The Gorgon Archer and Character Creation

Call of Cthulhu is one of the oldest still being published TTRPGs. The first edition was released in 1981 and the game has maintained mostly the same ruleset for that entire time, though admittedly, I haven't seen every edition. The 7th edition presents the only major adjustments to game systems I can remember since the early 90s.

I've said before that the edition wars and vast differences between different D&D editions is rather unusual in the TTRPG hobby. with most games you usually see massive rules shifts between 1st and 2nd editions, especially for indie products where the creator comes back with lessons learned (note to self). But the constant re-defining D&D has experienced for the past fifty years is odd.

As an example, the 7th Edition differences aren't even as severe as the differences between D&D 3rd and D&D 3.5.

Another note is that this is the first game we're going to do a epithet gorgon. Call of Cthulhu does not have any characters who aren't human. So, we're going to have a person that is referred to by other people as "gorgon". Given the connotations of the term, she's likely at least not conventionally attractive or possibly an outcast for some other reason.

Anyway, let's move on to the character creation.

There are five steps.

Step One: Generate Characteristics

Step Two: Determine Occupation

Step Three: Decide Skills and Allocate Skill Points

Step Four: Create a Backstory

Step Five: Equip Investigator

Step 1 - Generate Characteristics

The older editions of Call of Cthulhu used a system similar to D&D with stats between 3 and 18 as determined below.

Strength, Constitution, Power, Dexterity, and Appearance used to each be determined by rolling 3d6.

Size and Intelligence are determined by rolling 2d6+6.

Education is determined by 3d6+3

And then some of those would be multiplied by 5 to determine other traits.

Power x5 became Max Sanity and Luck.

Int x5 became Idea

Edu x5 became Knowledge

In addition, when you rolled a check for like Dexterity or Strength, then it would be multiplied by 5 to determine the percentage you need to get under on the d100 roll. Because, yes, Call of Cthulhu does all it's rolls by trying to roll underneath the percentage of as a skill on a percentile roll.

Now, the 7th Edition of Call of Cthulhu cuts out some of the steps above... a little bit as they are all set up as percentages.

This is how the stats are generated now.

Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Appearance, and Power are still determined by rolling 3d6 but now you multiply by 5.

Luck is now also determined by rolling 3d6 and multiplying by 5.

Size, Intelligence, and Education are now all determined by rolling 2d6+6 and then multiplying by 5.

So, we'll roll these now.

3d6 Rolls

15 (75)

9 (45)

11 (55)

17 (85)

7 (35)

13 (65)

2d6+6 Rolls

12 (60)

9 (45)

14 (70)

With this, I'm going to assign the following.

Strength (STR) - 45

Constitution (CON) - 55

Size (SIZ) - 60

Dexterity (DEX) - 85

Appearance (APP) - 35

Intelligence (INT) - 70

Power (POW) - 65

Education (EDU) - 45

Luck (LUCK) - 75

In the past editions, the minimum age would be your EDU + 6. In the 7th edition, instead you choose an age between 15 and 90 and you adjust your stats based on which age you chose.

I'm going to say about 35 or so. Let's say 37. Which says to make an improvement check for EDU.

Improvement checks are how Call of Cthulhu characters basically level up. If you've succeeded on a skill during a case, then at the end of the case you roll that skill and if you roll over the percentage, then you can improve your skill by 1d10. Basically this means it is easier to advance your skills when they're low skill, because at that point you're more likely to roll higher than the skill.

Basically, on an improvement check, you're trying to fail skill checks.

So, let's roll the Improvement against this character's EDU of 45.

I rolled a 64. That's higher than 45. This would be a fail in gameplay, but because this is an improvement check, it means we roll some to add to the EDU. I roll a d10 and get a 9. This means that the character's EDU is now 54.

The full age chart is here:

After we've determined the full percentages, we also have to determine "Half" and "Fifth" values for cases when the roll is more difficult than normal. These are determined by division and rounding down.

STR: 45, Half: 22, Fifth: 9

CON: 55, Half: 27, Fifth: 11

SIZ: 60, Half: 30, Fifth: 12

DEX: 85, Half: 42, Fifth: 17

APP: 35, Half: 18, Fifth: 7

INT: 70, Half: 35, Fifth: 14

POW: 65, Half: 32, Fifth: 13

EDU: 54, Half: 27, Fifth: 10

LUCK: 75, Half: 37, Fifth: 15

We then use these characteristics to determine other attributes

Damage Bonus, based on STR + SIZ

Build, a new trait, is also based on STR + SIZ

Hit Points, based on CON + SIZ

Sanity, equal to POW

Magic Points, equal to one fifth POW

MOV based on the relative comparisons of STR, DEX, and SIZ

Speak Own Language, equal to EDU

Starting with Damage Bonus, we use this chart:

This character's STR is 45 and their SIZ is 60, resulting in a total of 105. This comes to no damage bonus and a build of 0. So basically, fairly average.

For Hit Points, you add CON (55) + SIZ (60) and then divide by ten, rounding fractions down. I've noted this character's values above, so it comes to a total of 115. Divided by ten and rounding down gets us to 11 HP.

Finally, for MOV we look at SIZ (12), STR (9), and DEX (15).

If neither DEX nor STR are equal to or greater than SIZ, then MOV is 7.

If either DEX or STR are equal to or greater than SIZ (or all three are tied), then MOV is 8.

If both DEX and STR are equal to or greater than SIZ and there is no tie, then MOV is 9.

For this character, DEX (15) is greater than SIZ (12), but STR (9) is less. So MOV is 8.

That brings us to the following Attributes.

STR: 45, Half: 22, Fifth: 9

CON: 55, Half: 27, Fifth: 11

SIZ: 60, Half: 30, Fifth: 12

DEX: 85, Half: 42, Fifth: 17

APP: 35, Half: 18, Fifth: 7

INT: 70, Half: 35, Fifth: 14

POW: 65, Half: 32, Fifth: 13

EDU: 54, Half: 27, Fifth: 10

LUCK: 75, Half: 37, Fifth: 15

Damage Bonus: None

Build: 0

Hit Points: 11

Magic Points: 13

Sanity: 65

MOV: 8

Age: 37

As to what exactly these numbers equate to in a narrative sense, we have a chart for that.

This means that she's slightly under average human strength, a bit healthier than the average person. Slightly under average human size, aery fast and nimble, smarter than average, fairly strong willed, and just shy of a high school graduate.

Step 2 - Determine Occupation

This is determined the same way you determined occupation in older editions: you choose it. Though it gives a small paragraph on the idea of creating new occupations, namely not to give an occupation more than eight skills in it's package.

Now, the differences here come in how the Occupations are set up.

In older editions, there would be a list of skills and then you would get a number of points to spread between them equal to your EDU (4-21) x 20. In this case, you get a list of skills, then a Credit Rating range followed by a way to determine how many points you have for your skills.

In most cases, the points are EDU x4, which is generally going to be the same number of points you'd have gotten by multiplying the old system's EDU by 20. However, several occupations determine skill points by taking EDU x2 plus another attribute times 2.

For example, the farmer uses EDU x2 and either DEX x2 or STR x2 and the musician uses EDUx2 and either DEX x2 or POW x2.

Also, let's talk that Credit Rating range. In older editions, Credit Rating was a skill like any other that would show up in a package like with Dilettante. Not every package had Credit Rating. In 7th edition, you still buy Credit Rating with points as normal, but it is supposed to fall within certain range for example.

The farmer needs to have a Credit Rating between 9 and 30.

A lawyer will fall between 30 and 80.

A dilettante will fall between 50 and 99.

A drifter will fall between 0 and 5.

This does mean that you will find some of your points pre-spent in order to reach the minimum Credit Rating score.

We'll do with the actual assigning of the points in Step 3, but for now let's go with choosing an occupation.

I'm thinking our character lives on the edge of some community doing a mix of hunting and farming on some old family land. Both Drifter and Farmer have some of the stuff appropriate to a person that does a lot of farming, but we're going to go with Farmer.

Farmer comes with the following:

Art/Craft (Farming), Drive Auto, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate, or Persuade), Mechanical Repair, Natural World, Operate Heavy Machinery, Track, Any one Other Skill

Credit Rating 9-30

Skill Points: EDU x2 plus either DEX x2 or STR x2

So that brings us to next step.

Step 3 - Determine Skills and Allocate Skill Points

After choosing farmer as her occupation, I'm also choosing DEX as the stat to determine starting Occupational Skill Points. On top of this, we get a number of skill points to assign to any skill we want referred to as Personal Interest skills. These are determined by Intelligence x2. In older editions that would have been Intelligence x10 but because 7th edition Attributes are 5 times higher at base than the Attributes of earlier edition, this comes to the exact same number of points in either edition.

So, for our "Gorgon" we have the following:

Occupation Skill Points: 278 (EDU: 54x2 + DEX: 85x2)

Personal Interest Skill Points: 140 (INT: 70 x2)

So, let's start with occupation skills and credit rating. We're choosing Intimidate for the interpersonal skill and Survival for the "other" skill. Each of these has a starting value listed below

Art/Craft (Farming) 5

Drive Auto 20

Interpersonal Skill: Intimidate 15

Mechanical Repair 10

Natural World 10

Operate Heavy Machinery 1

Survival 10

Track 10

Credit Rating: 0

And we'll allocate the following points.

Art/Craft (Farming) 45

Drive/Auto 9

Intimidate: 40

Mechanical Repair: 30

Natural World: 20

Operate Heavy Machinery 34

Survival 40

Track 40

Credit Rating 20

That is the full 278 points of our Occupation skills. I'll do the totals below when we're done.

So, now we'll do some of the Personal Interest skills.

On a side note, I heard a great justification for a farmer knowing occult way back when in the Scion discord server. Basically, farmers have a load of folk knowledge and live out on the edges of society where the supernatural things are most likely to happen. Granted, "Occult" in Call of Cthulhu is more a matter of the history of cults, secret societies, and the like. Still, it's a good argument and one I agree with.

But, anyway, the skills I'm interested in mostly are below along with their starting levels:

Climb 20

Dodge half DEX (42)

Fighting: Brawling 25

Fighting: Axes 15

Firearms: Bow 15

Firearms: Rifles/Shotguns 25

First Aid 30

Jump 20

Law 5

Listen 20

Navigate 10

Occult 5

Spot Hidden 25

Stealth 20

Swim 20

We're not going to hit all of those skills. And I'm assigning as follows.

Dodge 10

Fighting: Brawling 15

Firearms Bow 40

Law 10

Listen: 15

Navigate 10

Spot Hidden: 20

Stealth: 20

That is all of our 140 points of personal interests. Now to list just the skills we added points and are thus above their default starting level:

Art/Craft (Farming) 50

Dodge 52

Drive Auto 29

Fighting: Brawling 40

Firearms: Bow 55

Intimidate 55

Law 15

Listen 35

Mechanical Repair 40

Natural World 30

Navigate 20

Operate Heavy Machinery 35

Own Language: English 54

Spot Hidden 45

Survival 50

Stealth 40

Track 50

Credit Rating: 20

Step 4 - Create Backstory

So, first we're going to turn to fantasy name generator and drawing from Colonial American names to hit that 1920s feel a bit better I find a lovely virtue name in the form of Comfort and we'll pair that with the surname Dunlap (but the married name Graham).

Comfort Dunlap was once married and had a beautiful child. Unfortunately, in the wake of a fire she was terribly scarred, her husband was dead, and her husband's parents leveraged their money to make sure they would have custody of her child. She exhausted herself in a fight for her child, both financially and emotionally, and eventually vanished off to her hometown and her parents old farm. After ten years, the locals have sort of put her in the category of someone not to talk about more than necessary. One of the crueler more well read people in town early on referred to her as "the gorgon at the old Dunlap place" and it stuck to her irritation.

Step 5 - Equip the Investigator

In the prior editions, wealth was determined by a 1d10 roll but in 7th edition is determined by your Credit Rating. Roughly the wealth is as follows:

Penniless - Credit Rating 0

Poor - Credit Rating 1-9

Average - Credit Rating 10-49

Wealthy - Credit Rating 50-89

Rich - Credit Rating 90+

Super Rich - Credit Rating 99

This is an odd one for me, because I used to understand Credit Rating as your ability to pass as a respectable person so you could have high wealth but moderate to low credit rating, such as if you're Howard Hughes in his grungiest era or just any minority in any era. I suppose it is a sacrifice on the altar of streamlining.

Anyway, there's a chart that shows how much money a person gets based on the time period and your credit rating. There's three sections in the wealth section:

Cash - Money you have on hand.

Spending Level - Prices below which the game says you don't have to track.

Assets - Land, vehicles, and other long-term value things.

Comfort here has a Credit Rating of 20, which puts her at Average and the chart for the 1920s puts her at:

Cash: CR x2 ($40)

Spending Level: $10

Assets: CR x50 ($1000)

Her assets include a swath of undeveloped land. Much of the land has been fallow for decades while she lived with her husband and on her own she's only managed to bring back a small patch. Beyond that she has a used and battered pick-up from the 1910s.

I'm not doing the full purchasing here, but that's the gist of the character.

Comfort Graham (nee Dunlap)

STR: 45, Half: 22, Fifth: 9

CON: 55, Half: 27, Fifth: 11

SIZ: 60, Half: 30, Fifth: 12

DEX: 85, Half: 42, Fifth: 17

APP: 35, Half: 18, Fifth: 7

INT: 70, Half: 35, Fifth: 14

POW: 65, Half: 32, Fifth: 13

EDU: 54, Half: 27, Fifth: 10

LUCK: 75, Half: 37, Fifth: 15

Vital Stats

Sanity: 65

Hit Points: 11

Magic Points: 13

Other Traits

Damage Bonus: None

Build: 0

MOV: 8

Age: 37

Skills

Art/Craft (Farming) 50

Dodge 52

Drive Auto 29

Fighting: Brawling 40

Firearms: Bow 55

Intimidate 55

Law 15

Listen 35

Mechanical Repair 40

Natural World 30

Navigate 20

Operate Heavy Machinery 35

Own Language: English 54

Spot Hidden 45

Survival 50

Stealth 40

Track 50

Credit Rating: 20

Wealth

Cash: $40

Spending Level: $10

I have a sort of love-hate thing with Palladium Games in general. They have some of the most flavorful game settings around and 16-20 year old me found the wide-variety of character classes, the skill system, and the interesting systems of magic and martial arts quite fun. But now that I'm older, the game is unbalanced in the worst way and character creation is ruled primarily by random chance.

What do I mean by "unbalanced in the worst way"? Well MotW is also a bit unbalanced, but the of the creator philosophy there is "I don't care about balance as long as everybody is having fun." Whereas the attitude of Palladium Games tends to be more "I don't care about balance as long as it's realistic." And the games often sacrifice fun game play because something else is "realistic."

In addition, the system's originator, Kevin Siembada is... convinced of his own genius and rabid about his insistence that his system is perfect and should never be changed. So there's that.

When I was considering what games to use to make this character I considered Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness as well as Heroes Unlimited. Unfortunately, TMNT's snake rules are in a supplement I don't own and Heroes Unlimited is actually one of the companies more bland products.

So I settled on Nightbane, a game about shapechanging creatures who initially think themselves normal humans... or maybe they are normal humans that are transformed. Nobody is really sure what the truth is. Each Nightbane has a unique "True Form" that may be formed of the circumstances that leads to their change, or their true personality, or something else entirely. Again, no one's really sure.

So, it's been a little bit since I've done one of these, but time to do another one. In this case it is a derivation of the City of Mist system by the same company.

See my City of Mist gorgon archer build here.

I have been wondering about this a bit...

Derivations of Apocalypse World are Powered by the Apocalypse.

Derivations of Blades in the Dark are Forged in the Dark.

So what's the umbrella term for derivations of City of Mist? Born of the Mist maybe?

Anyway, so Legends in the Mist puts the system in a fantasy world and refines things quite a bit.

For one thing, the division of Mythos vs Logos has been not exactly removed, but reworked. Characters still have four themes but they aren't balanced between two varieties. Instead there are four over-all types of themes:

Origin - Dealing with characters' beginnings and backgrounds. These tend to be grounded things like a common profession or personality.

Adventurer - Traits that cause a character to stand out from people around them. These are more extraordinary traits such as being supernatural creatures or possessing a magical relic.

Greatness - Traits of world-changing power such as being a dragon, having a great destiny, or being the ruler of a great nation.

Assorted - A collection of three themes that can fit within the scale of any of the above. Companions, Possessions, and Magic. So you could be a hedge wizard similar in scale to origin themes or a grand necromancer able to cast world-changing curses.

The game refers to this as the character's Might, areas of expertise where a character is more effective than other people. Origin themes represent Might on a personal level, interacting with people in a grounded manner. Adventurer's deal with things of greater power, but not connect as well with people. And Greatness themes deal with world-changing events.

For an example, looking at the Fellowship of the Ring:

The hobbits are predominantly Origin scale, with Frodo being half into Adventurer via a Relic and a Duty. The other three were all firmly in the Adventurer scale by the time they returned home.

Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir are predominantly Adventurer scales. Perhaps a touch of Origin. Late in the novel Aragorn dips into Greatness with a Destiny and after the novel, he acquires a Dominion as a King.

Gandalf is definitely a blend of Greatness and Adventurer, though he is more grounded than most wizards, so he likely has an Origin theme somewhere.

In general, it's likely you'll mostly have themes in the origin level, but it's perfectly fine to have a mix of themes and characters leaning into all three power scales. City of Mist did something like this but based it on how many Mythos you have vs how man Logos.

So basically, if you had 1 Mythos and 3 Logos you'd be closer to Origin level, 2 of each would be Adventurer, and 3 Mythos to 1 Logos would be closer to someone at the Greatness level. Roughly, speaking at least, I'm not sure they don't precisely match 1 to 1.

There are three approaches to creating a character.

The Simple Way, just pick four themes and create their associated tags.

The Quick Way, picking some of the pre-built "tropes" and adjust the fluff to fit your character.

The Detailed Way, answering the questions on the theme books.

We're going to use the Detailed Way for our gorgon and I'll probably use the quick way for her companions when I get around to building her "Fellowship".

One other note, in Legends you can take the same theme multiple times if you want to. This is different from City of Mist which generally has you not repeat themes. Though that may be implied only, I'd have to re-read to make sure, but the fact that this new game explicitly says you can repeat themes reaffirms my impression that it wasn't an option in CoM.

We're going to look at the character's Hero Card. This is just their general personal information, name (fantasynamegenerators.com has a gorgon name generator I'll punch a few times), relationships to the other members of the Fellowship, accumulated "Promise" (a form of experience), Moments of Fulfillment (improvements on the character as a whole, acquired via spending Promise), and the player's name (which isn't very important here).

Looking at it, some of this we can't really do right now (the fellowship relationships) and others are gameplay developments (Promise and Moments of Fulfillment.) So about the only thing we can do is determine the name and the generator gave me one that made me chuckle.

Hero's Name: Chima

And then we'll move to choosing themes. One I know for sure:

Uncanny Being to cover being a gorgon. This is an Adventurer theme.

For the second I want to address her archery and there are three themes that can hit this, one at each scale, Skill or Trade at origin, Prodigious Ability at adventurer, or Mastery at greatness. And then I'll round out with two more. The way I'm going is this:

Skill or Trade to represent a trade as a hunter.

People to represent a people or culture she is connected to.

Possessions to represent her gear

For each of these themes will follow a procedure similar to what we did in City of Mist:

Answer the first question on each theme book.

Answer two other questions on each theme book (you can answer the same question twice)

Answer a weakness question on each theme book.

Create a Quest for each theme book.

So, let's start with...

Uncanny Being

First question: What manner of fantastical being are you? The New Gorgon of the Ebony Wood

What unusual shape, feature, or trait do you have or can assume? Serpentine hair.

How does your kind interact with mortal and mundane beings? Designated Guardian

Weakness question: What is a shortcoming of your physical or magical nature? Loneliness and Isolation

Quest: Prove your worth

There was also a question that would have let me also take a tag for "Petrifying Tag" but I feel like I've already double-downed on the gorgon tag enough with serpentine hair. Having "young gorgon" should allow for petrification, but perhaps narratively not as powerful as it would be if she had a specific tag for it.

My idea here is that the Gorgon of the Ebony Woods is a creature that is created by a ritual. This is something of a sacrifice as the chosen person is made into the gorgon and is from that point ostracized from the village and people as a sacred guardian. Friends and family act as if they had died, they are never spoken to by their name again. When the current gorgon dies, a new person is chosen to replace them so that the region is consistently protected.

Now let's move on.

Skill or Trade

First Question: What Skill or Trade are you good at? Skilled hunter

H What are you more aware of or know about, thanks to your Skill? Sounds and Weather

How do you reduce the risk of failure, harm, or poor outcome? A calculated approach.

Weakness question: Where or when are those of your Trade unwelcome or unwilling to work? Disrespected by Nobility

Quest: Catch and Release the Holy Stag

People

First Question: What do your People call themselves or one of their members? Woodfolk of Astraya

What knowledge is shared among your People? Lore of Herbs and Seasons

What skill, technique, or trick is practiced by your People? Woodcraft and Stealth

How or by whom are your People most prejudiced against? Condescension from the cityfolk

Quest: Protect Astraya's boundaries

Possessions

First Question: What is your most important Possession or material resource? A well-crafted bow

What supplemental or related item or set do you possess? Leathers and Green cloak

What situations or conditions was this item designed for? Precise aim.

What is beyond the capabilities or standards of your Possession? No Enchantment

Quest: Find an enchanted replacement

And then we pick a "Backpack" tag. The backpack card is where you write down temporary story tags you acquire, and you start the game with one.

As it stands, she already has a bow and leather armor from her theme books, so we're going to give her something else for her backpack tag. I'm going to look through the suggestions in the "General Store" and I'm going to go with "Healing Brew" because it fits her tag related to Herb Lore.

I'm going to save this here and come back to update later for fellowship and companions.

EDIT: Okay, I'm back to expand on this.

So, for her fellowship, I'm going to create two characters using Tropes.

One of these will use the Aspiring Squire trope with the "Heart of Gold" personality. With the idea that a "knight" in this context is a warden or something similar for Astraya people. I'm naming her Auriel.

Now each of these points to a pre-built "theme kit" from the book with a list of suggested tags as well as a pre-designed quest.

I'm also taking the "Safe-ward Medallion" as her backpack item.

For Become the Knight, I'm choosing: Act Honorably, Learn from Watching, and Underhanded Enemies.

Next, we'll go to Skirmisher and I'll take Light melee weapon and choose a Saber. Riding beast and say they ride a Giant Riding Fox, and Confuses "strong" with "slow".

Inspiring Master is next, and I'm taking the following tags: Teaching Moment, Expert in their Trade, and They Test Me.

Finally, we go to the variable options and, as said, I'm going to pick "Heart of Gold" and choose Work Shoulder to Shoulder, Compassion, and Easily Exploited.

For the second character, I'm going to choose a Devoted Healer and I'm naming her Onielle.

For her backpack item, I'm giving her a quarterstaff.

For the Heal the Sick theme kit, I'm going with Ease Suffering, Avoid Infection, and Unnatural Plagues.

Next we're going with Village Apothecary, which is a theme kit from some of the optional magical rule sets, as noted "Alchemy & Herbalism". These optional magics are for when you want something a bit more specific than just "Magic".

Each of these magic types has a set of rules specific to it. Alchemy and Herbalism has the following:

Magic is collected: Alchemists and herbalists need to acquire or create recipes.

Magic requires preparation: Alchemists and herbalists need time to mix their ingredients.

Magic is in short supply: Alchemists and herbalists have a status called "ingredients" that represents their supply. It will decrease as they craft potions and salves.

Magic is spent when used: When a particular concoction is used, its tag is burned and is gone forever.

There is a further variant of Alchemy and Herbalism that adds two more rules.

Magic is synergetic.

Magic is mysterious.

With this variant, instead of having a generic "ingredients" status, the character would have to track down specific named ingredients and mix them to see what they do, creating a list of recipes they've experimented with over time. This is very much similar to how Alchemy works in Skyrim or how the Apothecary's Concoct skill works in Octopath Traveler, for example.

But this increased specificity is not going to be fun for every table, hence why it is a variant.

For her tags I'm choosing: Bedside Manner, Quick Application, and Haunted by Failures. That last is going to tie in to the next theme this trope comes with automatically.

So, now we have "Forged in War"

And the tags I'm choosing here are: Find Cover, Move Through Battlefields, and Nightmares

Finally, I'm going to choose one of the last three options, and I've jumbled about with this a bit, I could double down on her medical skill with the Prodigious Ability, I could give her the Influence representing her reputation, or I could give her a Companion in the form of a Guardian Spirit (maybe the ghost of someone from her war time experience).

I like the idea of the Guardian Spirit here. As a note, this makes her the only character so far that is entirely build on Origin scale.

For the tags, I'm going with: Warn me, Invisible, and Sets off Magic Traps. The last means that while the healer herself might be able to walk through some traps unaware, her ghost companion can't.

And I'm going to create a fourth character using the "simple" method and instead of choosing a specific Trope with prescribed methods, I'm going to use the Simple Method and instead choose four themebooks and four theme kits.

And I'm going to give them someone with some Greatness by choosing the following theme kits. (One of them is altered since I'm sharing this in a group where a friend has a certain phobia.) I'm naming her Yon'qe. I'm probably also going to adjust her Quest to remove the idea of blotting out the sun.

So, let's start with the monstrosity theme and I'm going to give her the following tags: Most Potent Sting, Massive Gossamer Wings, and Contenders to the Throne.

Doppleganger allows our wasp-queen to hide in human form with the following: Quick Lie, Sudden Attack, and Hated and Reviled. I have altered this a bit, but basically the idea that giant wasps are feared and hated and can hide as humans.

As a note, Shapeshifter is another specific form of magic with the following rules:

Magic requires transformation & Magic imposes constraints: meaning that while she's using her Doppleganger ability to pretend to be human, she operates under human limits but can also do things similar to how her imitated persona can do.

Magic Carries a Price: While she's in human form, she is also subject to human instincts.

There's an optional rule for "Changing Shape" that makes it so that changing into some shapes will take longer than others, based on whether you already possess some appropriate tags or not.

I think I will also rename this "Human Guise" in the final write-up below as well as alter the quest.

For Practiced Liar, I'm going with the following tags: Twist the Truth, Discern Lies, and Lie When I Don't Mean To

And finally, we're taking a second Personality in the form of Jovial Disposition with the following tags: Lift up Spirits, Suddenly Serious, and Inappropriately Chirpy

For a backpack Item, I'm giving her a cittern.

With all these characters, I'm going to go ahead and make The Fellowship. And I'm choosing the premade kit of "Protectors Against the Dark" with the idea that there has been encroachment from invaders on the woodlands of Astraya such that even one of the forest monsters has become interested and has moved to help, if for no other reason than she currently sees these interlopers as competition... though who knows, she might turn more generally heroic over time.

For tags, I'm going to choose: Scouting the Periphery, Bushwalkers, and Not Enough Rest

I decided against "Support of Local Leaders" or "Beloved by the People" or other such things, because I have the feeling that these four (and their companions) are acting independently and perhaps without the approval of their superiors. My thought here is that the gorgon is generally expected to act alone and working alongside her is taboo, so the squire and the healer are breaking Astrayan tenets by cooperating directly with her. Meanwhile, the wasp queen is helping out in an enemy-of-my-enemy sense and would definitely not be welcome by the Astrayans as a whole.

One note about Fellowship theme tags, when you use these tags, they are Burned, which means that the tag becomes unusable until an action is taken to unburn the tag.

So, that comes to following characters and at this point I'm going to add relationships. I colored the themes and tags to represent Origin, Adventure, and Greatness themes.

Chima

Uncanny Being

The New Gorgon of the Ebony Wood

Serpentine Hair

Designated Guardian

Weakness: Lonelinees and Isolation

Quest: Prove Your Worth

Skill or Trade

Skilled Hunter

Sounds and Weather

Calculated Approach

Weakness: Disrespected by Nobility

Quest: Catch and release the Holy Stag

People

Woodfolk of Astraya

Lore of Herbs and Seasons

Woodcraft and Stealth

Weakness: Condescension from the City Folk

Quest: Protect Astraya's Boundaries

Possessions

Well-Crafted Bow

Leathers and Green Cloak

Precise Aim

Weakness: No Enchantment

Quest: Seek and uncover a relic bow of past champions

Backpack: Healing Brew

Companions

Auriel - Former rival

Onielle - Oversaw my transformation

Yon'qe - Traditionally Enemies

Auriel

Devotion

Become a Knight

Act Honorably

Learn from Watching

Weakness: Underhanded Enemies

Quest: I shall become a knight of the realm, serving the greater good.

Skill or Trade

Skirmisher

Saber

Giant Riding Fox

Weakness: Confuses "strong" with "slow"

Quest: Always strive to surprise your foe.

Companion

Inspiring Master

Teaching moment

Expert in their trade

Weakness: They test me

Quest: "Put all of yourself into it, I expect nothing less"

Personality

Heart of Gold

Work Shoulder to Shoulder

Compassion

Weakness: Easily Exploited

Quest: There's hardship to go around, let's carry it together.

Backpack: Safe-ward Medallion

Companions

Chima - Esteemed and Holy

Onielle - Lifesaver

Yon'qe - Oddly appealing

Onielle

Devotion

Heal the Sick

Avoid Infection

Ease Suffering

Weakness: Unnatural Plagues

Quest: I will cure ALL of them.

Magic: Alchemy & Herbalism

Village Apothecary

Quick Application

Bedside Manner

Weakness: Haunted by Failures

Quest: Cure maladies and ease the suffering of innocents - that is our duty.

Past

Forged in War

Find Cover

Move Through Battlefields

Weakness: Nightmares

Quest: Are we fated to forever slayer one another on the battlefield?

Companion

Guardian Spirit

Warn Me

Invisible

Weakness: Set off magical traps

Quest: Promise me that will destroy the Warlock and I will forever protect you.

Backpack: Quarterstaff

Companions

Chima - Poor girl

Auriel - Young and naive

Yon'qe - Inscrutable and dangerous

Yon'qe

Monstrosity

Giant Wasp Queen (to be)

Most Potent Sting

Massive Gossamer Wings

Weakness: Contenders to the Throne

Quest: Once I establish my nest, all shall live under my decree.

Magic: Shapeshifting

Human Guise

Quick Lie

Sudden Attack

Weakness: Hated and Reviled

Quest: Learn about the humans by being one.

Personality

Practiced Liar

Twist the Truth

Discern Lies

Weakness: Lie when I don't mean to

Quest: Let's see what I can get away with this time...

Personality

Jovial Disposition

Lift up Spirits

Suddenly Serious

Weakness: Inappropriately Chirpy

Drink, dance, and dream, for today is all we have.

Backpack: Cittern

Companions

Chima - Little Cousin Snake

Auriel - Refreshingly Accepting

Onielle - Brilliant and skilled

The Fellowship

Protectors against the Dark

Scouting the Periphery

Bushwalkers

Weakness: Not Enough Rest

Quest: Defend the people of Astraya, whatever the cost.

------

Now a thing to note here is that this Fellowship is predominately Origin in terms of what themes they have, and there task is an Adventure, defending the region and land of Astraya from encroachment by great armies. So, they are in general on the back foot... except.... they have the backing of a giant wasp queen (who isn't exactly a queen... yet)... though she can't reveal herself too much without problems... and she (or at least her kind) are not well loved by the locals either.

But let's move on to how experience works in this game.

There's two scales of experience, improving the Themes themselves which is where we'll start. Note that Fellowship themes improve the same way Hero themes do, so this covers both of those. Each theme has three markers on it: Abandon, Improve, and Milestone:

Improve marks are the basic and come when the following happens:

The themebook's Weakness tag is invoked for an action or reaction.

The themebook's quest reaches a new Milestone

The character takes an action to Abandon their quest.

As you can see, Abandon and Milestone are already referenced here. But we'll discuss that later.

Once the theme has marked three Improve, they are allowed to choose one of the following improvements.

Create a new power tag

Remove or add a weakness tag. (yes, adding a weakness is an improvement, these are the easiest way to mark Improve after all, and they provide neat drama)

Gain a special improvement (these are similar to moves in PbtA, each themebook has five of these)

Reset Abandon, Milestone, or both

Mark Promise. (we'll get to this later)

Also, anytime you add an improvement, you can also change or rewrite one tag on the themebook. This can be a power tag or a weakness tag.

Something of note here as compared to City of Mist, this allows you to mark Promise without losing or changing a theme, where as in the prior game, you did not gain Build Up (that game's version of Promise) until after a theme was lost and replaced.

Now, on to Abandon and Milestone and why you might want to reset them.

These relate to your quests, and each themebook's quest will generally fall into one of the following categories:

Your wish - something you desire to achieve or obtain.

Your truth - a belief or conviction that you hold true.

Your home - a person, place, or thing you seek to protect.

When you make significant progress to achieve these quests by getting closer to your wish, coming to a deeper understanding of your truth, or making the thing you wish to protect more thoroughly protected, then you mark Milestone.

When you take deliberate steps away from your Quest, by ignoring an opportunity to acquire your goal, by questioning or rejecting your truth, or by giving up the protection of your home or charge, then you mark Abandon.

When three boxes of Milestone are checked, then you evolve the themebook by replacing it with a fresh new one related to your new accomplishment. When three boxes of Abandon are filled, then you replace the themebook with a fresh new one related to what convinced you to turn away from your prior quest.

Since players aren't always going to want to change playbooks, the game offers the option to clear Milestone and Abandon to 0 when you gain an improvement. Given both Milestone and Abandon are going to come less frequently than Improve (especially since each also provides Improve when they're marked) it's pretty easy to avoid having either box fill-up unless you want that to happen.

An example of evolution via Milestone would be such as if Chima tracks down and finds a replacement for her basic bow, allowing her to replace her Possessions themebook with a Relic themebook.

An example of evolution of via Abandon would be if Yon'qe decided she didn't want to rule over people anymore. In this case she would replace her Monstrosity with something else, possibly even a new Monstrosity theme better suited to her new approach to people. She'd lose all her accumulated improvements at this point, but be able to redefine herself as maybe a "Guardian Wasp Goddess".

And yes, you can Abandon a themebook for another themebook of the same overall type such as Monstrosity to Monstrosity above. You can also Evolve or Abandon a themebook for a themebook in a lower scale. For example, Yon'qe might opt to go from Monstrosity > Uncanny Being. One example in the book seems to imply a Dragon decides to give up conquering the coast and instead just buys a tavern to run and basically semi-retire, thus going from Greatness all the way to Origin.

That covers how the Hero Themes improve, but there's also the question of how the Hero overall improves and that comes from Promise.

Whenever a Hero reaches 5 Promise, they reach a Moment of Fulfillment that allows them to change something about their core mechanics. In someways, this is like in a rogue-like game where after a run, you can make some global improvements that never go away. But how do you get Promise?

Predominately, by replacing or evolving themebooks.

Whenever a themebook is replaced either by achieving three Milestones or reaching three Abandon, then the Hero gains Promise as follows:

Once for each power tag beyond the first three

Once for each weakness tag beyond the first one

Once for each special improvement

So, if Yon'qe were to abandon "Giant Wasp Queen" for "Guardian Wasp Goddess" and she had two special improvements, five power tags, and two weaknesses, then she would gain five promise when she replaces the themebook and immediately choose one of the following Moments of Fulfillment:

Arrive at Journey's End (Retire the character, make a new one)

Be Reforged (completely rebuild the character from scratch)

Gain a Quintessence (these are like Special Improvements on themes but there are 18 of them)

Shake the Foundations of Magic (introduce a new rule or method of using magic to the world)

Speak Words Eternal (Cause a lingering enchantment to be laid down that will forever change a particular place, person, force, or organization)

Unearth Lost Truths (Learn or create new lore about the world at large, something that was always true but was lost to time)

Okay, so I made a gorgon archer for Daggerheart a while back in version 1 of the playtest cycle. Now, since I recently received the full release core set, I figured it might be worth doing a new one.

I'm going with the same overall worldbuilding lore I used in the first character, namely the existence of a past goddess that has fallen into a non-responsive state which is the origin of the gorgons. See the link above for expanded lore. This is also similar to the natural and corrupted versions of gorgons I used in the Fantasy AGE build I did just prior to this one.

This is going to go in a bit of a different direction, from my original Daggerheart build. For one thing, I'm going to make this one a rogue rather than a ranger, and for another, this book has rules for mixed ancestry that will make for an interesting way to veer into a semi-unique ancestry.

An interesting thing here is that while the game encourages you to think about what kind of character you want to play, it does not consider "Concept" as one of the steps. Instead it starts right away with picking a class. Here are the steps of the finished portion of the game:

Step 1: Choose your Class

Step 2: Choose your Heritage

Step 3: Assign Character Traits

Step 4: Record additional character information

Step 5: Choose your starting equipment

Step 6: Create your background

Step 7: Create your experiences

Step 8: Choose your domain cards

Step 9: Create your connections

Step 1 - Choose Your Class

As I said earlier, we're making a Rogue. So, next we pick a sub class, and that's a choice between The Nightwalker as a sort of shadowdancer equivalent and The Syndicate as a person who has a large network of contacts. Now I just made a gorgon archer that was heavy into social stuff and contacts, so I'm going to go with the Nightwalker in this case.

Interestingly, each class has their own specialized character sheet, but also there is a generic character sheet as well. At current moment, I don't think there's a particular reason I have to use either the generic or the specific class character sheets, but the text assumes you have them. This is reasonable, but as someone who has been using word processors over character sheets for around 30 years now, I get antsy when I feel like I'm being told to use a sheet.

This is entirely an issue on my side and not really something a developer should have to account for.

In any case, this step is broken into substeps beyond just choosing a sub-class. All told this step is broken down into:

Pick a class

Pick a subclass

Grab the appropriate character sheet, character guide, and subclass card.

Record your level (1)

Record character details: name, pronouns, any bits of appearance you already have in mind.

Record class features (unless you do have the appropriate character sheet, in which case they're already there for you.)

So that the third and last bits here are interesting as the third assumes you have the character sheet and the last acknowledges that you might not have the character sheet.

One thing to note about the heavy insistence on using their character sheet is that they have created a clever little physical aid which points out what the different bits of information are used for in the game. They call it their sidecar, and of course the various boxes don't line up if you don't use their character sheet. So, it's basically a tutorial tool for a new player.

So, this is what we got for the Rogue:

Tatalia Rathis (yes, I've been playing Might and Magic 7) - She/Her

Domains

Midnight - Shadows, secrecy, and other such things.

Grace - Charisma, storytelling, deception, and performances.

Starting Evasion: 12

Starting Hit Points: 6

Class Items: Choice of a forgery tools or a grappling hook. (I'm choosing the grappling hook)

Hope Feature: Rogue's Dodge

Class Features:

Cloaked

Sneak Attack

And Nightwalker gets us the following features:

Spellcast Trait: Finesse (both Rogues have this)

Foundation Feature: Shadow Stepper

Step 2 - Choose your Heritage

This is a combination of your physical heritage and your upbringing and this is where I'm going to be using mechanics that weren't available when I did the character at beta.

So with mixed ancestries there's two steps:

Determine the combination: which two ancestries are you choosing?

Choose features.

Each ancestry has two features and you'll choose the top feature of one and the bottom feature of another. So you can't just choose both top or both bottom features. Also, in determining the mix you determine what you're called. This could be "goblin-orc", "goblin with orc heritage", or a unique name such as "toothling."

What's fun about this is that they have created an easy way to homebrew new ancestries by mixing and matching elements of existing ones. And, yes, you can say this is due to mixed blood, but you can also say you're just an unusual heritage that is its own thing. And we're kinda doing the latter with our gorgons.

So, the bottom feature I'm certain of and that's the Dreadful Visage of the Infernis, the demon-touched/blooded people of the setting. The name pretty much says everything about why I'm picking it to represent a gorgon of all things.

Now, the top feature I have a couple of thoughts on and by the time I've written this far have "narrowed it down" (pinch of salt) to the following:

Representing scaly skin:

Drakona - Scales

Dwarf - Thick Skin

Galapa - Shell

Giant - Endurance

Representing agility and reflexes:

Elf - Quick Reactions

Goblin - Surefooted

Katari - Feline Instincts

Representing mobility

Faun - Caprine Leap

Simiah - Natural Climber

Okay. I don't often do these gorgon archers as the cinematic type of gorgon you see in Clash of the Titans where the character is a snake from the waist down. I also much more rarely do the thing where the gorgon has wings as in the actual myths, but that's not going to happen here either. Anyway, with a snake-from-waist-on style of gorgon, the idea of mobility seems the most important. So, I'm going to look at Faun and Simiah to represent this sort of gorgon.

I'm going to go with the Faun's ability and fluffing it, or "flavoring" it as Daggerheart says, as a the agility of the snake body allowing her to pass small obstacles and scale heights with ease. She's not usually jumping (though snakes can do that too) but is more flowing across in that characteristic way snakes have.

As a further note, the character I made in beta was very much humanoid with two legs and all. So either this is a re-written world-lore or ... and I like this option better ... there is a wide variety of gorgons out there. Some with thicker scales, some with quicker reactions, and some with the snake-tail bodies. Heck, perhaps the Dread Visage is also not a universal trait.

Now, with that done, we have to choose our Community, which is basically the upbringing of our character. The character I made for beta was very much a wandering, nomadic sort searching for answers and avoiding people that think she'd make a good sacrifice in some nefarious ritual. So for this new character, we're going to pick someone who's remained mostly in one area.

So the options are as follows:

Highborne - elegance, opulence, and prestige

Loreborne - academic and political acumen

Orderborne - a focus on discipline and faith

Ridgeborne - harsh rocky environments

Seaborne - coastlines, islands, lakefronts, or river people

Slyborne - criminal underworld

Underborne - physical underworld, subterranean upbringing

Wanderborne - nomadic and lots of traveling

Wildborne - dwelling deep in a forest

I'm ruling out Highborne, Loreborne, Orderborne, Slyborne, Underborne, and Wanderborne right off the bat. I don't want her to be an explicit criminal, I did wandering before, and I also don't want her part of any sort of privilege or high authority. And the physical underground just isn't interesting to me. That said, the idea of a noble going rogue and breaking away from their family is interesting.

Moving on, the two I'm most interested in are Ridgeborne and Wildborne. Both of these lean into decisions we've already made with the ancestry and class. With Ridgeborne giving more ability to deal with difficult terrain and Wildborne giving some stealth features.

I also can't lie and say the Seaborne's thing about sensing the ebb and flow of life isn't interesting.

However, I'm going with the Ridgeborne and giving it some overlap a bit with the ranger from the prior Daggerheart character I made.

The book mentions languages, but in the sense that there's not a big focus on them, leaving it up to the individual tables if they want to make a list of different languages to track or not.

Step 3 - Assign Character Traits

The game has six core stats given along side a trio of verbs to give people an idea of what each trait applies to. These are:

Agility - Sprint, Leap, Maneuver

Strength - Lift, Smash, Grapple

Finesse - Control, Hide, Tinker

Instinct - Perceive, Sense, Navigate

Presence - Charm, Perform, Deceive

Knowledge - Recall, Analyze, Comprehend

As a note, I relieved and happy to see that "Constitution" and "Stamina" don't make an appearance. There's a few games that make those traits dynamic and interesting, Fantasy AGE for example ties Constitution to several activities, but for the most part, these stats just sort of sit there and provide boosts to HP.

When I read "core six stats" I will admit to an inward groan expecting renamed D&D Ability Scores. So, this is a pleasant shift. It's been long enough since I did the beta-test version that I'm not entirely clear on whether or not this was the case back then... I'm guessing it was and... okay, I went back to the other sheet and confirmed it was indeed this way back then. Still, the kudos is worth repeating.

Okay, now, we need to distribute some trait modifiers across these stats. We have set array of: +2, +1, +1, 0, 0, and -1. Checking, I see that longbows and shortbows are associated with Agility, which as we see above is also associated with movement, so that's going to be my primary association. Finesse as the Rogue's spellcasting trait and Instinct; in relation to the idea of a survivalist in rocky, mountainous area; come next. So... now it comes to which I'm the least interested in to get the -1. And I think it's going to be Strength, which is a bit predictable, agreed, but it seems to fit the most.

That gives us:

Agility +2

Strength -1

Finesse +1

Instinct +1

Presence +0

Knowledge +0

Step 4 - Additional Character Information

We covered some of this in part 1, actually. This is starting traits and includes the following:

Evasion: 12

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 6

Hope: 2

Step 5 - Choose your starting equipment

The game has us choose:

A choice of weapons: one 2H primary weapon or one 1H primary weapon and one 1H secondary weapon.

One armor

Other starting items, one of which I mentioned in Step 1

The recommended choice for a rogue is a dagger with a paired secondary dagger. But we're going to go with the shortbow which is a two-handed weapon. This does mean that they don't have a melee weapon, but I cross checked the suggested weapon sets of the ranger and it shows just the shortbow without another weapon.

Given the flexible ranges used, that's likely going to work out fine. In a lot of games, like Fabula Ultima or Monster of the Week, I wouldn't even really worry about that at all. It's just the heavy association with D&D the developers of this game have that make me suspicious about having a character with just a ranged weapon.

As to armor, there's four varieties at first level: Gambeson Armor, Leather Armor, Chainmail Armor, and Full Plate Mail Armor.

Chain Mail reduces Evasion while Plate Mail reduces Evasion and Agility. So both of those are out. It comes to a choice between Gambeson and Leather. D&D brain says "well, clearly leather is just better than padded" but that's not the case here. The Gambeson provides a bonus to Evasion while Leather does not. Both provide an Armor score of 3 while Leather has a slightly better damage threshold.

Now, to explain, characters have a small amount of Hit Points which only get marked off when an attack surpasses a character's damage thresholds. This feels like they designed this to still have the fun of rolling lots of dice, but still keep hit point accounting to a low amount. Armor Score can be spent to reduce the severity of an incoming attack so perhaps you'll only take stress rather than actual hit point damage. Meanwhile, Evasion is how you actually avoid being hit.

I'm going with the Gambeson, both because I like gambesons and because I like the increased evasion.

Side note, I am unsure why I've been capitalizing the names of types of armor. Eh... whatever, not important.

We now look at other starting items which for a rogue, according to the guide we get:

a torch

50 feet of rope

basic supplies

"a handful of gold"

A choice between a Minor Health or Minor Stamina Potion

A choice between a set of forgery tools or a grappling hook

I'm going with the Minor Stamina potion to clear Stress and just bank on the idea of avoiding getting hit.

Step 6 - Create your Background

Now we have to answer some story prompts that on first glance rubbed me the wrong way because they make certain assumptions about a person playing a rogue. However, the textbook makes clear that these are placeholder prompts and can be replaced if you wish. So, I'm going to tweak this a bit by stating the original question and revamping it to a different take.

What did you get caught doing that got you exiled from your home community?

Tatalia is not an exile from her community, but her community itself has been pushed into the mountains in order to survive as the pleasant farmlands they used to live in have been fought over repeatedly in the past few generation by two or three different nations that simply ignored the people already living there. It wasn't there farmlands and homesteads being trampled, so they didn't care.

You used to have a different life, but you've tried to leave it behind. Who from your past is still chasing you?

This assumes a criminal background again. I'm going to go with it partially and say that she did end up with a group of fellows that have been harassing the forces of all the people that use their homeland as a battleground. They were named as bandits and the group was scattered. Distinctive as she is, it was easy for some description of her to get out. So there's probably some low-key bounties from one or more nations on her even though she wasn't skilled enough to be one one the major thorns. She's just recognizable and maybe she knows where the others are.

Who from your past were you most sad to say goodbye to?

I'm going to say that she was very close with her mother and a younger brother, though her father has been dead for ten years. Her mother had tried to talk her out of getting involved with the resistance trying to poke the invaders in their ancestral lands, just be focused on making a living out of the game they could hunt and food they could grow on the mountain. That conversation ended in a bitter fashion and Tatalia is a bit to ashamed to make it easy to go back and face her mother.

Step 7 - Create Your Experiences

This step is the most Fate like of the set so far as experiences are short phrases describing achievements, descriptions, and other traits which translate into something that gives the character guidance moving forward. I'm very fond of Fate Aspects and have already dealt with two versions of that system here, one rather recently. So I've linked those discussions so you can go see the discussion of Aspects there.

In this case, I'm going with the following two experiences:

Always Keeping an Eye Out

Everyone deserves respect

This covers her watchfulness as well as her snake-hair and her bitterness at how her people have been shoved aside from where they used to live and her response to it being one of wanting to protect other people's lives from abuse. In fact, Keeping an Eye Out is double edged in that she is always looking for ways to help but is also capable of sustaining a grudge.

Each of these is given a value of +2. She will be able to spend some of her hope in order to add that number to a roll.

You might start to feel like your Experiences no longer match your character, or else didn't give the flavor you expected. In this case, they can easily be changed simply by working with the GM to rework those elements.

Step 8 - Choose your Domain Cards

This is where we start getting into your character's signature gameplay abilities. The stuff that's beyond the basic elements every person with your class, ancestry, and upbringing have. Each character has two domains each of which have 3 first level powers for a total of 6 and we choose two of those.

Oddly, despite putting her Presence at 0, I'm going to give Tatalia two cards that are somewhat charisma flavored. They would still use her Finesse as the Spellcasting trait, however.These powers are:

Uncanny Disguise

Enrapture

In both cases, I assume that there is a bit of magic going on. I'm going to assume the disguise even lets her hide her snake-tail appearance for a bit... similar to how naga function now in Legend of Five Rings. And Enrapture is a short duration magical charm as well.

Step 9 - Create Your Connections

These are links between yourself and your teammates, something that is increasingly becoming standard to build at session 0 instead of having everybody just happen to be on hand for the initiating event.

I'm going to edit these in later as it is currently getting late and I am already operating on low sleep. Similarly, I will likely edit in a level up theory-crafting later, as there's some interesting mechanics in play here. I'll also try to get some photos of the cards later to paste here. And I'll probably create a party as well.

For now, here's the Compilation

Tatalia Rathis - 1st Level Gorgon Rogue

Gorgon (Faun/Infernis)

Ridgeborne

Rogue: Nightwalker

Traits:

Serpentine (Caprine Leap) - Faun

Dread Visage - Infernis

Steady - Ridgeborne

Cloaked - Rogue

Sneak Attack - Rogue

Shadow Stepper - Nightwalker

Stats

Agility +2

Strength -1

Finesse +1 (Spellcasting Trait)

Instinct +1

Presence +0

Knowledge +0

Proficiency: 1

Damage and Health

Minor Threshold: 6

Major Threshold: 12

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 6

Defense

Armor: Gambeson

Evasion: 13 (12 base, +1 for Gambeson)

Armor Score: 3 (Gambeson)

Experiences

Always keeping an eye out +2

Everyone deserves respect +2

Weapon

Shortbow - Agility, Far, d6+3 Physical, 2-handed

Domain Cards

Grace: Enrapture

Midnight: Uncanny Disguise

Returning to Part 9 - Connections

Okay, editing in connections, first of all, I want to note that making a random set of characters is kinda easy due to the way these cards work. Simply shuffle the cards and deal them out. Boom, instant random character.

So let's get to that and make 3 party members for Tatalia. I'm ruling out the origin cards I used for Tatalia. So no Faun, Infernis, Ridgeborn, or Rogue. I'll also redraw if I get two of the same class.

I did have to re-draw once because I got both types of bard, but the end result is:

Goblin Loreborne Wordsmith (Bard) - Named Dale Bracada

Human Wildborne Wayfinder (Ranger) - Named Deyja Eofel

Giant Seaborne Stalwart (Guardian) - Named Tula Barrow

This is a mix of pretty standard archetypes with one outlyer in the form of the Goblin bard, who I choose to imagine is some sort of storyteller such as the one played by John Hurt in Jim Henson's Storyteller. I'm going to go ahead and pull their Domain cards too, randomizing that as well, though I'm going to leave off the Enrapture card so that it's unique to Tatalia.

Dale Bracada - Inspiring Words and the Book of Ava (Book of Ava has three spells: Power Push, Tava's Armor, and Ice Spike)

Deyja Eofel - Untouchable and Gifted Tracker

Tula Barrow - Whirlwind and Forceful Push

As for weapons:

Dale is going to get a Scepter magic weapon and a small dagger in their off hand. As well as a Gambeson.

Deyja is going to get a Battleaxe and Leather Armor

Tula Barrow is going to get a Cutlass and a Round Shield with Chain Mail.

So, let's get to the connections Tatalia has to the other three.

What did I recently convince you to do that got us both in trouble? Tatalia convinced Tula to help her raid an enemy caravan to free some captives. And now Tula's also been noticed by the invading authorities.

What have I learned about you that I keep a secret? Tatalia has recently learned that Deyja is a deserter from one of the invading armies, but she keeps it secret to avoid getting him in trouble.

Who do you know from your past and how have they influenced your feelings about me? Dale has encountered and spoken to the captain of a military patrol who made regular trips to the mountain villages to keep a thumb on Tatalia's people and it's made Dale feel a bit of pity for Tatalia. Unwanted pity.

Now I'm going to update this and then start editing again to do the theoretical leveling in a bit after I read the process a bit more thoroughly.

Level Ups

So, leveling is based on milestones and as you level up you increase two things: your level and your tier.

Tier 1 - Just first level

Tier 2 - Levels 2-4

Tier 3 - Levels 5-7

Tier 4 - Levels 8-10

Each tier increases Proficiency, adds a new Experience, and unmarks any Stat that was improved so you can improve them again.

So, some things here. The game is only 10 levels. At each tier you get some specific improvements and at each level you get a new card and are able to choose between various improvements. There's a limited number of times each option can be taken. They are as follows:

Improve two stats +1, can be taken 3 times, can't apply to the same stats more than once

Improve Hit Points +1, can be taken twice.

Improve Stress +1, can be taken twice.

Improve two Experiences +1, can be taken once.

Choose an additional Domain card, can be taken once.

Improve Evasion +1, can be taken once.

And at tiers 3 and 4, these other options:

Take a subclass specialization option, can be taken once, prevents multiclass this tier.

Improve Proficiency +1, can be taken once - counts as two options

Multiclass, can be taken once - counts as two options, prevents specializtion this tier. Can't multiclass more than once at all.

I'm not likely to multiclass here, but we'll see. As to Proficiency, this also goes up at each tier. So you have the following:

Tier 1 - Proficiency 1

Tier 2 - Proficiency 2

Tier 3 - Proficiency 3

Tier 4 - Proficiency 4

So, you can get up to a Proficiency +6 if you take both the options to do so at Tier 3 and 4. Each point of proficiency increases the number of damage dice rolled when you make a weapon attack.

Now, I really like this system because there are more advancement options than you have ability to select and that makes the build an interesting approach. Also, one of my gripes with D&D is that it's very cookie cutter and a lot of levels with a lot of classes you don't make decisions, you just right stuff down.

Okay, on to the Leveling.

Tatalia Rathis - Tier 2

Level 2

Basic improvements

Tier 2 - +1 Proficiency

Tier 2 - a new experience: Your friend in the shadows

New Domain Card - Shadowbind

All Damage Thresholds increase by 1 since they are based on level.

The shadowbind allows her to cause several people to be restrained and it feels like something that can be easily reworked as a petrifying gaze.

For the optional improvements I'm taking the following:

Improve two stats: +1 Finesse and +1 Presence

Take another Domain card: Grace - Tell No Lies

Level 3

New Domain Card: Chokehold

Damage Thresholds increase

Chokehold feels like something appropriate to a sneaky gorgon rogue who is snake from the waist down.

Gain +1 to two Experiences, "Everyone Deserves Respect" and "Your Friend in the Shadows"

Permanently gain +1 Stress

Level 4

New Domain Card: Stealth Expertise

Damage Thresholds increase

And now she has 6 Domain cards, and her Loadout is limited to 5 cards, so she's always going to have one in her "Vault" for now, but that number will increase.

Gain +1 to two stats: +1 Agility and +1 Knowledge

Permanently gain +1 Evasion

Gear

One neat thing is that the game does organize weapons and such into tiers, so I am going to grab some improved tier armor and weapons for her as she levels, assuming she'll find appropriate tier gear before the end of that tier. In her case I'm going with the following:

Finehair Bow - Very Far, Agility, s6+5 physical, two-handed, Reliable: +1 attack

Tyris Soft Armor - 8/18, Armor 5, Quiet: +2 to move silently

I'm less certain about the other random loot that can be found.

Tatalia Rathis - 4th Level Gorgon Rogue

Gorgon (Faun/Infernis)

Ridgeborne

Rogue: Nightwalker

Traits:

Serpentine (Caprine Leap) - Faun

Dread Visage - Infernis

Steady - Ridgeborne

Cloaked - Rogue

Sneak Attack - Rogue

Shadow Stepper - Nightwalker

Stats

Agility +3

Strength -1

Finesse +2 (Spellcasting Trait)

Instinct +1

Presence +1

Knowledge +1

Proficiency: 2

Damage and Health

Minor Threshold: 12

Major Threshold: 22

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 7

Defense

Armor: Tyris Soft Armor

Evasion: 13

Armor Score: 5 (Tyris Soft Armor)

Bonus: Quiet, +2 to moving silently

Experiences

Always keeping an eye out +2

Everyone deserves respect +3

Your friend in the shadows +3

Weapon

Finehair Bow- Agility, Very Far, d6+5 Physical, 2-handed, Reliable +1 Attack

Domain Cards

Grace: Enrapture, Tell No Lies,

Midnight: Uncanny Disguise, Shadowbind, Chokehold, Stealth Expertise

Typical Loadout: Tell No Lies, Uncanny Disguise, Shadowbind, Stealth Expertise, Chokehold

Typical Vault: Enrapture

Tatalia Rathis - Tier 3

Level 5

Tier 3 - +1 Proficiency

Tier 3 - New Experience: Justice, one arrow at a time

Tier 3 - Clear marked stats

Level 5 - Domain card: Invisibility

Invisibility feels very useful to a sneaky rogue. Note that it is a level 3 card, but the level 5 cards didn't feel really like what I wanted.

I'm also going to immediately improve her Proficiency by +1 using both her options this level.

Level 6

Domain Card: Share the Burden

Share the Burden just feels appropriate to someone who is trying to help people around her.

Improve two stats +1 Agility, +1 Instinct

Gain the Specialization Nightwalker trait

Level 7

Domain Card: Midnight Touched

This means she is encouraged to have 4 Midnight cards in her Loadout, at least while this card is there, because otherwise it does nothing. Every Domain has one of these "Touched" cards that give passive benefits as long as you lean into that domain.

Permanently gain +1 Evasion

Improve two stats +1 Finesse, +1 Presence

And for Gear I'm sticking with her Tier 2 weapons for now, I like their secondary effects.

Tatalia Rathis - 7th Level Gorgon Rogue

Gorgon (Faun/Infernis)

Ridgeborne

Rogue: Nightwalker

Traits:

Serpentine (Caprine Leap) - Faun

Dread Visage - Infernis

Steady - Ridgeborne

Cloaked - Rogue

Sneak Attack - Rogue

Shadow Stepper - Nightwalker Foundation

Dark Cloud - Nightwalker Specialization

Adrenaline - Nightwalker Specialization

Stats

Agility +4

Strength -1

Finesse +3 (Spellcasting Trait)

Instinct +2

Presence +2

Knowledge +1

Proficiency: 4

Damage and Health

Minor Threshold: 15

Major Threshold: 25

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 7

Defense

Armor: Tyris Soft Armor

Evasion: 14

Armor Score: 5 (Tyris Soft Armor)

Bonus: Quiet, +2 to moving silently

Experiences

Always keeping an eye out +2

Everyone deserves respect +3

Your friend in the shadows +3

Justice, one arrow at a time +2

Weapon

Finehair Bow- Agility, Very Far, d6+5 Physical, 2-handed, Reliable +1 Attack

Domain Cards

Grace: Enrapture, Tell No Lies, Invisibility, Share the Burden

Midnight: Uncanny Disguise, Shadowbind, Chokehold, Stealth Expertise, Midnight-Touched

Tactical:

Loadout: Invisibility, Midnight Touched, Shadowbind, Stealth Expertise, Chokehold

Vault: Enrapture, Share the Burden, Tell No Lies, Uncanny Disguise

Social Infiltration

Loadout: Enrapture, Uncanny Disguise, Tell No Lies, Stealth Expertise, Shadowbind

Vault: Chokehold, Midnight Touched, Share the Burden, Invisibility

Survival

Loadout: Share the Burden, Midninght Touched, Stealth Expertise, Shadowbind, Uncanny Disguise

Vault: Enrapture, Tell No Lies, Invisibility, Chokehold

Tatalia Rathis - Tier 4

Level 8

Tier 4 - +1 Proficiency

Tier 4 - New Experience: Darkness, kind and secret

Tier 4 - Clear marked stats

Level 8 - Domain Card: Shadowhunter

This is going to aim for being in the dark quite often. And for the level options. I'm once again going straight for the Proficiency boost.

Level 9

Domain Card: Night Terror

Night Terror affecting people that can see her to horrify them definitely feels like a gorgon thing.

Extra Domain Card: Master of The Craft, immediately add to Everyone Deserves Respect and Darkness, Kind and Secret

Give a +1 to two stats: Finesse and Instinct

Master of The Craft is an interesting case. It permanently increases the bonuses of one of your Expereinces by +3 or two of them by +2, I chose the +2. Then the card just sits in your Vault, forever, never takes up space in your Loadout.

The Blade domain has a similar card called Vitality that does the same thing, where you choose two out +1 Stress, +1 Hit Points, and Increased Damage Thresholds.

I really like this design space. Yes, you're giving up an option for an active power at that point, but you're trading it out for a permanent boost that you don't need to put in your Loadout.

As a note, on scanning through the cards, these are the only two cards that work like this, which is interesting.

Level 10

Domain Card: Eclipse

Yeah, I definitely like Eclipse for this character.

Permanently give +1 Evasion

Nightwalker Mastery trait

And for gear, let's look at Tier 4 stuff and I'll bring her to the Dunamis Silkchain and the Aantari Bow.

Tatalia Rathis - 10th Level Gorgon Rogue

Gorgon (Faun/Infernis)

Ridgeborne

Rogue: Nightwalker

Traits:

Serpentine (Caprine Leap) - Faun

Dread Visage - Infernis

Steady - Ridgeborne

Cloaked - Rogue

Sneak Attack - Rogue

Shadow Stepper - Nightwalker Foundation

Dark Cloud - Nightwalker Specialization

Adrenaline - Nightwalker Specialization

Fleeting Shadow - Nightwalker Mastery

Vanishing Act - Nightwalker Mastery

Stats

Agility +4

Strength -1

Finesse +4 (Spellcasting Trait)

Instinct +3

Presence +2

Knowledge +1

Proficiency: 6

Damage and Health

Minor Threshold: 15

Major Threshold: 25

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 7

Defense

Armor: Dunamis Silkchain

Evasion: 16 (17 with Shadowhunter)

Armor Score: 5 (Tyris Soft Armor)

Bonus: Timeslowing, Mark Armor to add 1d4 to Evasion against incoming attack.

Experiences

Always keeping an eye out +2

Everyone deserves respect +5

Your friend in the shadows +3

Justice, one arrow at a time +2

Darkness, kind and secret +4

Weapon

Aantari Bow- Finesse, Far, d6+11 Physical, 2-handed, Reliable +1 Attack

Domain Cards

Grace: Enrapture, Tell No Lies, Invisibility, Share the Burden, Master of The Craft

Midnight: Uncanny Disguise, Shadowbind, Chokehold, Stealth Expertise, Midnight-Touched, Shadowhunter, Night Terror, Eclipse

Tactical:

Loadout: Invisibility, Midnight Touched, Shadowbind, Stealth Expertise, Shadowhunter

Vault: Enrapture, Share the Burden, Tell No Lies, Uncanny Disguise, Master of The Craft

Social Infiltration

Loadout: Enrapture, Uncanny Disguise, Tell No Lies, Stealth Expertise, Shadowbind

Vault: Chokehold, Midnight Touched, Share the Burden, Invisibility, Master of The Craft

Survival

Loadout: Share the Burden, Midninght Touched, Stealth Expertise, Shadowbind, Uncanny Disguise

Vault: Enrapture, Tell No Lies, Invisibility, Chokehold, Master of The Craft

Assault

Loadout: Midnight Touched, Shadow Hunter, Eclipse, Night Terror, Shadowbind

Vault: Enrapture, Share the Burden, Tell No Lies, Uncanny Disguise, Invisibility, Stealth Expertise, Chokehold, Master of The Craft

Okay... some definite things I love about this. Making this as an option means the last level is much easier to set up as a story capper as compared to the capstones in a lot of level-based games. The flexibility is going to make for a lot of variety. I very much could have chosen not to lean heavily into Nightwalker and focused on basic stuff. I could also have leaned more heavily into increasing Stress and possibly boosting Hit Points. And I was definitely invested in doing high damage given I took both proficiency boosts available to her.

What about her Party

I'm going to go ahead and level up her party using random chance to account for the unexpected directions a campaign would go and also to make sure it doesn't take long to do. Just going to note the choices. I'm choosing Domain Cards, but for improvements I'm mixing choosing and rolling. And I'm not naming experiences so just a bare bones summary.

Dale Bracada

Level 2 - Book of Vargas, Extra Domain Card: Troublemaker, +1 Stress

Level 3 - Hypnotic Shimmer, Improve Presence and Knowledge

Level 4 - Book of Exota, +1 Stress

Level 5 - Thought Delver, Improve Presence and Instinct, +1 to two experiences.

Level 6 - Teleport, +1 Hit Point, Extra Domain: Book of Sitil

Level 7 - Endless Charisma, +1 Stress, Upgarded Wordsmith

Level 8 - Astral Projection, Improve Presence and Knowledge, +1 Stress

Level 9 - Copycat, Extra Domain Card: Safe Haven, +1 Stress

Level 10 - Notorious, Wordsmith Mastery, +1 Hit Points

Summary:

Grace: Inspiring Words, Hypnotic Shimmer, Thought Delver, Endless Charisma, Astral Projection, Copycat, Notorious

Codex: Book of Ava, Book of Vargas, Book of Exota, Teleport, Book of Sitil, Safe Haven

Stress: 11

Hit Points 7

Master Wordsmith

+3 Presence, +2 Knowledge, +1 Instinct

Deyja Eofel

Level 2 - Natural Familiar, +1 to two Experiences, Extra Domain: Strategic Approach

Level 3 - Tactician, +1 Hit Point, +1 Stress

Level 4 - Healing Field, Improve Agility and Strength, +1 Hit Point

Level 5 - Wild Fortress, Multiclass: Druid (Warden of Renewal)

Level 6 - Recovery, Extra Domain: Rune Ward, Improve Strength and Instinct

Level 7 - Wild Surge, +1 Stress, +1 Evasion

Level 8 - Rejuvenation Barrier, Wayfinder Specialization, Improve Agility and Finesse

Level 9 - Splintering Blow, Extra Domain: Premonition, +1 Stress

Level 10 - Deathrun, +1 Evasion, Improve Strength and Instinct

Summary:

Arcana: Rune Ward, Premonition

Bone: Untouchable, Tactician, Recovery, Splintering Blow, Deathrun

Sage: Gifted Tracker, Natural Familiar, Healing Field, Wild Fortress, Wild Surge, Rejuvenation Barrier

Stress: 10

Hit Points: 8

Evasion: 14

Wayfinder Specialization

Warden of Renewal Foundation

Two +3 Experiences

+3 Strength, +2 Agility, +2 Instinct, +1 Finesse

Tula Barrow

Level 2 - A Soldiers Bond, Extra Domain: Bold Presence, +1 Hit Point

Level 3 - Critical Inspiration, Improve Strength and Presence, +1 Hit Point

Level 4 - Fortified Armor, Improve Knowledge and Instinct, +1 Stress

Level 5, Armorer, Extra Domain: Rousing Strike, Improve Strength and Presence

Level 6 - Vitality (Damage Thresholds and Stress), +1 Hit Point, Improve Knowledge and Instinct

Level 7 - Valor Touched, +1 Hit Point, Stalwart Specialization

Level 8 - Battle Cry, Extra Domain: Rise Up, Improve Strength and Presence

Level 9 - Hold the Line, Stalwart Specialization, +1 Hit Point

Level 10 - Unbreakable, +1 Hit Point, +1 Stress

Summary

Blade: Whirlwind, A Soldier's Bond, Fortified Armor, Vitality, Battle Cry

Valor: Forceful Push, Bold Presence, Armorer, Rousing Strike, Rise Up, Valor Touched, Hold the Line, Unbreakable

Stress: 10

Hit Points: 14

Stalwart Specialization

Stalwart Mastery

+3 Strength, +3 Presence, +2 Knowledge, +2 Instinct

Yeah, I'll go ahead and stat these out, but just the 1st Level and 20th Level versions. I'm also not going to delve into Goals and Ties for this. I'm marking primary Abilities in Bold Italics.

As a note, going through this, my general thought is in line with my impressions for Kaelcia in that the upper levels feel a bit anticlimatic, but that isn't the fault of giving too many talents and specializations, but more a common trait of this style of game with only a few exceptions here and there. I definitely appreciative the increased flexibility.

Also, I did this while pushing deeper into sleep deprivation, so hopefully nothing is a bit off.

Wulfram Hayward - 1st Level Mage

He rolled two Ability bonuses (Communication and Dexterity). Note, I'm now noting the game defaults to letting you choose two benefits but Ability bonuses counting as both picks. However, you can choose to roll twice instead and that can get you two Ability bonuses,

Origin

Ancestry: Halfling

Background: Scribe (Middle Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 2

Communication 2

Constitution 1

Dexterity 3 (Stealth)

Fighting 1

Intelligence 3 (Writing)

Perception 0

Strength 0

Willpower 3

Traits

Health: 23

Magic Points: 17

Defense: 13

Speed: 11

Armor Rating: 0

Language: Common, Halfling

Weapon Groups: Brawling, Staves

Intrepid, Frightened causes reduced penalties.

Class Features

Arcane Blast

Arcane Device (Scroll in a bone case)

Magic Training

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Healing Power (1+ SP) - Part of the Healing Arcana

Specializations

Novice Arcane Scholar

Talents

Novice Chirurgy

Magic Talents

Novice Divination

Novice Healing

Spells

Divination: Forewarning, Sentinel

Enchantment: Identify Enchantments (gained from Arcane Scholar)

Healing: Balm, Cure

Gear

Quarterstaff

Arcane Device: Intricate Bone Scroll Case with enchanted Scroll

Backpack

Waterskin

Traveler's garb

Bedroll

Blanket

Flint and Steel

5 units of Incense

5 sticks of Chalk

Lantern

8 Candles

8 silver pieces

Naesala Keyzeiros - 1st Level Rogue

Rolled a Focus (Hearing) and an Ability (Accuracy)

Origin

Ancestry: Elf

Background: Sailor (Lower Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 3

Communication 2

Constitution 2

Dexterity 2 (Sailing)

Fighting 0

Intelligence 1 (Natural Lore)

Perception 2 (Hearing)

Strength 1

Willpower 1

Traits

Health: 30

Defense: 12

Speed: 14

Armor Rating: 3 (Light Leather)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Elven

Weapon Groups: Black Powder, Light Blades, Staves

Class Features

Pinpoint Attack

Rogue's Armor

Rogue's Speed

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Specializations

Novice Spy

Talents

Novice Thievery (Perception (Searching))

Gear

Light Leather Armor

Pistol

Dagger

Lockpicks

Bedroll

Powder and Shot (10 shots)

6 silver

Ettioc Macebearer - 1st Level Warrior

Note: I originally only rolled 3 weapon groups when Ettioc needed four. I'm not correcting the original post due to the mistake of posting it to the wrong blog first making editing a pain.

I rolled one Ability bonus (Communication) and one focus (Running)

Origin

Ancestry: Goblin

Background: Squire (High Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 0

Communication 1 (Investigation)

Constitution 3 (Running)

Dexterity 2

Fighting 3

Intelligence 1 (Heraldry)

Perception 1

Strength 2

Willpower 1

Traits

Health: 38

Defense: 12 (14 with Medium Shield)

Speed: 12 (9 with Heavy Mail)

Armor Rating: 7 (Heavy Mail)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Goblin

Weapon Groups: Axes, Brawling, Slings, Staves

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Specializations

Novice Champion

Talents

Novice Unarmed Style

Novice Weapon and Shield

Novice Armor Training

Gear

Heavy Mail

Morningstar

Throwing axe

Hunting Sling

20 lead sling bullets

Medium Shield

Fishing Cord (50 yards)

Fishing Tackle

Compass

10 silver

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wulfram Hayward - 20th Level Mage

He rolled two Ability bonuses (Communication and Dexterity). Note, I'm now noting the game defaults to letting you choose two benefits but Ability bonuses counting as both picks. However, you can choose to roll twice instead and that can get you two Ability bonuses,

Origin

Ancestry: Halfling

Background: Scribe (Middle Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 3 (Arcane Blast)

Communication 4 (Investigation)

Constitution 3 (Stamina, Tolerance)

Dexterity 5 (Calligraphy, Crafting, Stealth)

Fighting 3 (Quarterstaff)

Intelligence 5 (Air Arcana, Arcane Lore, Cultural Lore, Divination Arcana, Fate Arcana, Healing, Healing Arcana, Historical Lore, Writing)

Perception 1 (Searching)

Strength 2 (Climbing, Jumping)

Willpower 6 (Faith, Self-Discipline)

Traits

Health: 102

Magic Points: 155

Defense: 17

Speed: 12

Armor Rating: 0

Language: Common, Halfling

Weapon Groups: Brawling, Staves

Intrepid, Frightened causes reduced penalties.

Class Features

Arcane Blast (24 yard range)

Arcane Device (Scroll in a bone case)

Magic Training

Weapon Focus adds to Damage

Spend MP for damage bonus on spells

Add stunt die to damage with Arcane Blast

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Examine (1-3 SP)

Healing Power (1+ SP) - Part of the Healing Arcana

Extra Information (2 SP) - When using a Lore focus

Magic Shield (2 SP) - Reduced cost basic spell stunt

Complex Arcana (3 SP)

Omen (3 SP)

Mystic Insight (5 SP)

Epic Mage (Spell)

Specializations

Master Arcane Scholar

Master Miracle Worker

Expert Elementalist (Air)

Talents

Master Chirurgy

Master Arcane Training

Expert Lore

Magic Talents

Expert Divination

Master Healing

Expert Fate

Master Air

Spells

Air: Voices on the Wind, Wind Net, Wall of Mist, Winds of Flight

Divination: Forewarning, Sentinel, Ill Omens, Scrying

Enchantment: Identify Enchantments (gained from Arcane Scholar)

Fate: Puppets of Fate, Agents of Fate, Strings of Fate

Healing: Balm, Cure, Revival, Healing Aura, Regenerate, Rejuvenate Body

Enchantment: Identify Enchantments (gained from Arcane Scholar)

Minor Arcana: Arcane Candle, Arcane Mantle, Mage's Flint

Gear

Quarterstaff

Arcane Device: Intricate Bone Scroll Case with enchanted Scroll

Backpack

Waterskin

Traveler's garb

Bedroll

Blanket

Flint and Steel

5 units of Incense

5 sticks of Chalk

Lantern

8 Candles

8 silver pieces

Naesala Keyzeiros - 20th Level Rogue

Rolled a Focus (Hearing) and an Ability (Accuracy)

Origin

Ancestry: Elf

Background: Sailor (Lower Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 5 (Black Powder, Light Blades)

Communication 5 (Deception, Gambling)

Constitution 4 (Stamina, Tolerance)

Dexterity 5 (Acrobatics, Legerdemain, Lock Picking, Sailing, Stealth, Traps)

Fighting 0

Intelligence 3 (Evaluation, Heraldry, Military Lore, Natural Lore, Thieves Lore)

Perception 3 (Hearing, Searching)

Strength 2 (Climbing)

Willpower 5 (Courage, Self-Discipline)

Traits

Health: 140

Defense: 18

Speed: 17

Armor Rating: 3 (Light Leather)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Elven

Weapon Groups: Black Powder, Light Blades, Staves

Class Features

Pinpoint Attack (Add Stunt die to damage in addition)

Rogue's Armor

Rogue's Speed

Take Aim

Weapon focus added to damage

Stunning Attack

Lethality

Slippery

Epic Rogue (Exploration)

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Counter (1 SP)

Efficiency (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic social stunt

Hidden Message (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic social stunt

Taunt (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic social stunt

Misdirect (1+ SP)

Snatch (2 SP)

Cover Your Tracks (2 SP) - Reduced cost basic exploration stunt*

Sabotage (4 SP) - Reduced cost basic exploration stunt

Get Away (5 SP)

Steady Hand (5 SP)

Cover your tracks was both a Rogue stunt choice and was reduced by the Spy Specialization, hence being reduced from 4 to 2.

Specializations

Master Spy

Master Mariner and Pirate

Master Mage Hunter

Mariner and Pirate selections

Novice Mariner

Expert Pirate

Master Mariner

Talents

Master Thievery (Dexterity (Lock Picking), Dexterity (Traps), Perception (Searching))

Master Carousing

Master Elven Secrets

Master Intrigue (Deception)

Gear

Light Leather Armor

Pistol

Dagger

Lockpicks

Bedroll

Powder and Shot (10 shots)

6 silver

Ettioc Macebearer - 20th Level Warrior

Note: I originally only rolled 3 weapon groups when Ettioc needed four. I'm not correcting the original post due to the mistake of posting it to the wrong blog first making editing a pain.

I rolled one Ability bonus (Communication) and one focus (Running)

Origin

Ancestry: Goblin

Background: Squire (High Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 3 (Brawling, Slings)

Communication 2 (Etiquette, Investigation, Leadership, Performance)

Constitution 5 (Running, Stamina, Tolerance)

Dexterity 5 (Initiative)

Fighting 5 (Axes, Bludgeons, Staves)

Intelligence 2 (Heraldry, Military Lore)

Perception 2

Strength 5 (Climbing, Intimidation, Jumping, Might)

Willpower 4 (Courage, Morale)

Traits

Health: 161

Defense: 18 (22 with Medium Shield and Heavy Armor)

Speed: 15 (10 with Heavy Plate)

Armor Rating: 4 (14 with Heavy Plate)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Goblin

Weapon Groups: Axes, Bows, Bludgeons, Brawling, Heavy Blades, Slings, Staves

Class Features

Improved Armor Rating (3)

Weapon Focus added to damage

Expert Strike

Quick Strike

Add stunt die to damage

Epic Warrior (Combat)

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Knock Prone (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic combat stunt

Block (1-3 SP)

Defensive Stance (2 SP) - While using a shield

Exemplify (2 SP)

Improved Disarm (2 SP)

Threaten (2 SP)

Crushing Blow (3 SP) - Reduced cost basic combat stunt

Unbalance (3 SP)

Swiftness (4 SP) - Reduced cost basic exploration stunt

Storm of Strikes (5 SP)

Specializations

Master Champion

Novice Aristocrat (Leadership)

Master Guardian

Talents

Novice Unarmed Style

Master Weapon and Shield

Master Armor Training

Master Command

Master Mighty Thews

Master Great Endurance

Gear

Heavy Mail

Morningstar

Throwing axe

Hunting Sling

20 lead sling bullets

Medium Shield

Fishing Cord (50 yards)

Fishing Tackle

Compass