Create a Character

Who will the character of my story be?

To create a character, there are several details. The following description is for game-mechanics. After those will be recommended details for role-playing, i.e., what personality traits drive and guide the character’s decisions.

There are numbers used to represent how talented a character is. These are recorded on a character sheet, which a blank template is included in the appendix of this text.

The items to be determined are qualities, race and skills. Optionally, personality and backstory can be added as well.

Qualities

Measuring strengths of my character

Every entity, characters and monsters, have a set of three qualities: Body, Mind and Spirit. Body represents physical health and athleticism. This also acts as life points. When a character is harmed, poisoned or fatigued, the effective value of the Body score decreases. The Mind score is one’s mental prowess, solve puzzles and void tricks. As stress occurs, mental exhaustion can set in, resulting in the potential loss of Mind points. Lastly, Spirit is a measure of willpower and faith.

There are also sub-qualities for each of these. The Body score consists of Strength, Agility and Resilience. The Mind score comes from Logic, Perception and Judgment. Lastly, Spirit is made up of Will, Faith and Muse. When creating a character, 2 points are placed in each of nine sub-qualities. Then the player places 4 additional points as desired. However, no starting sub-quality score can exceed 5 points. Once these values are set, the total maximum score for each of the primary qualities is calculated. This is performed by taking the sum of the three sub-qualities, then adding half of that sum again. Thus, if strength is 3, agility is 3 and beauty 3, then the sum is 9 and half (rounded down) is 4, making the total Body max score 13. If loss occurs from damage, stress, fear or other causes, then the current value of the primary quality is lowered, but the sub-qualities remain static. If those points are restored through healing, then the current score can only be increased to the maximum value.

PS: If using the Roll20 character sheet, the calculated values for the three qualities will be performed automatically.

What do these values for sub-qualities represent?
Strength is how strong the physique is; physical might
Agility is the manual dexterity, reflexes and hand-eye coordination
Resilience is a represent of hardiness and general health
Logic is the general intellect and puzzle-solving ability
Perception measures how well one uses natural senses, even unwittingly
Judgment is a score of patience and impulse control
Will is the determination held by a being
Faith measures religious devotion and believe in the unseen
Muse qualifies the artistic and creative nature

Sub-qualities can increase; however, that is only through the purchase with karma. They are more expensive and more difficult to achieve as the numbers get higher. And the maximum natural sub-quality score a PC can obtain is 12; however, it is possible through magic means to have an effective value a little higher. Also, some monsters are not subject to this 12-maximum rule.

Lastly, sub-quality scores can offer modifiers to skills rolls. This will be detailed later, but starting at 4 points, a bonus grants a +1 bonus, then an additional +1 bonus for each 2 points higher. Thus, a score of 6 allows for a +2; a score of 8 allows +3, etc.

Race

Different sapient species and beings in the fantasy world.

Selecting a race is the next step. There are ten races which a character can choose: alseid, batfolk, dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling, half-orc, human, jzaka and lizardfolk; however, because there are so many details, including sub-races, the specifics of each race can be found in the Race section, which follows this one.

Senses

How one perceives the world

Different races, monsters and species use different methods of sensation. The most universally referenced sense is vision. In fantasy world, there are several types of vision. The three most common are normal vision, darkvision and spirit sight. There is also night vision, which Jzaka, cats and owls have. Many other senses are used by different creatures. Here will be a brief summary of what each type is.

Normal vision is exactly what is sounds like; it is what you are using now, viewing the normal visual spectrum. What this means is in darkness, normal or magical, it is more difficult to operate and fight. Anyone using normal vision suffers a -2 to attack penalty for attack rolls in the night and disadvantage on attack rolls in total darkness. Also, movement is half of normal for traveling in darkness, including dim light.

Darkvision is unique eyesight adapted by subterranean and nocturnal creatures. It allows them to operate in darkness as if it were normal. Therefore, no penalties for fighting in the dark. Because most creatures with darkvision operate in the normal spectrum as well, there are no penalties for regular lighting. However, different species have different ranges they can see in the darkness. Half-orcs can only see 15 feet, while the svirfneblin can see out to 120 feet. When using darkvision, most of what is seen is a grayscale rather than color; however, there are a few exceptions to this rule when explicitly stated. Moreover, magical darkness thwarts darkvision.

Night vision is an above-ground sight relying on the absorption of light waves in materials from sunlight. Even though the material is no longer reflecting current light, there is a shedding of the radiation, partly based on heat and partly based on the subtle glow of the planet's ring. Creatures with night vision have a special sensitivity to be able to see in the dim light of a double-moonless night; however, if being hidden from the atmosphere, either by going subterranean or inside a windowless mansion, those with night vision become as blind as normal vision.

Spirit sight is a special sensation for creatures that do not rely on vision. Most of the walking dead and “unliving” creatures, known as feratu, find their prey like this because many feratu do not have functioning eyes. Spirit sight is the detection of a living creature’s aura, biofield or life song. For those without it, it can be best thought of as the radar sense used by the comic-book hero Daredevil. Of course, this means those with spirit sight are not affected by light conditions; however, if one can mask himself from life-detection, then the spirit sight could not know he was there. Of course, this will not work for all feratu, for example vampires, as they make use of normal vision as well (or possibly darkvision for a dwarven vampire).

Devil sight is a power form of seeing. This allows not only vision in any darkness as if normal, but also a being with devil sight can see through magical darkness as well. This method is used often by imps and lesser fiends of the devil phylum to endanger their victims.

Blindsight is a general term for being aware of the surrounding even without vision. In some cases this is due to hearing, air pressure or even magnetism from the ground. In other cases it is a bit more mystical. Most everyone has a minuscule amount of this sensation, but unless an entity is explicitly stated to have it, there are no modifiers to adjust. For example, zombies use primarily spirit sight; however, this is based on feeling presence of life forces around them. But one might ask, how then do zombies not walk into walls, know to use doors, not fall into pits? The explanation is a very low-grade use of blindsight -- not enough to identify the types of rocks, but enough to avoid tripping over them. Other creatures, constructs for example, have a high degree of blindsight. They cannot be blinded nor can deafness alter their perception of things around them. Beings using blindsight as a primary sense cannot see through walls, but they are typically unaffected by glamour type illusions.

Many subterranean creatures have sunlight sensitivity. Batfolk have echolocation. Lizardfolk have vibrational awareness called tremorsense. Some of these have details listed with the race and how members use the sensation; others merely translate to a bonus on Perception. However, it is important to knowledgeable of how these unusual impressions work. It allows a GM to rule for exceptions. For example, echolocation will not work for batfolk who are caught inside a silence spell. A method of mental anguish for a lizardfolk could be placing one in a deprivation chamber to block vibrations; it does no real harm but would become very stressful over time.

Psionics, telepathy and magical means can detect things normally undetectable. The specifics should be detailed in the skill, incantation or axiom. This brings up illusions and how they are perceived. Read the Illusions section for a better understanding. But in that vein, know that something can be invisible (to one type of sensation) and still be seen by others.

The long and short of this is that based on one's senses and awareness of what they mean, everyone should have a better understanding of how characters and monsters can sense and identify others. It also allows one to know when their character is at disadvantage, figuratively and literally. Finally, the table below defines how different sensations work under different circumstances. Whenever there are more than one sensation in play below, then the best of the scenarios applies, except for blind and deaf -- in which case, the worst on the chart is used.

Being Aware	Normal Vision	Deafness	Sunlight Sensitivity	Night Vision†	Darkvision	Spirit Sight	Devil Sight	Blindsight	Echolocation‡	Tremorsense	True Sight	Movement*
In Direct Sunlight	Normal	-2 on Perception	Perception Disadvantage	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Perception Advantage	-2 Perception against Flying	+3 on Perception	Normal
Bright Light	Normal	-2 on Perception	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Perception Advantage	-2 Perception against Flying	+3 on Perception	Normal
Dim Light	-2 Perception	-4 on Perception	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	-3 Perception against Flying	+3 on Perception	Half
Darkness	-4 Perception	Perception Disadvantage	n/a	-2 Perception	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Perception Disadvantage against Flying	+3 on Perception	Half
Magical Darkness	Perception Disadvantage	Perception Disadvantage	n/a	Perception Disadvantage	Perception Disadvantage	Perception Disadvantage	Normal	Normal	-4 on Perception	Perception Disadvantage against Flying	+3 on Perception	Half
Veiled/Invisible	Perception Disadvantage	Perception Disadvantage	n/a	Perception Disadvantage	Perception Disadvantage	Perception Disadvantage	Perception Disadvantage	Normal	-4 on Perception	Perception Disadvantage against Flying	Normal	Half
Suddenly Teleported	Perception Required	Perception Required	n/a	Perception Required	Perception Required	Normal	Perception Required	Perception Required	Normal	-2 Perception against Flying	Normal	Half

^*Movement adjustment occurs when awareness/sight is worse than normal
^†Night vision becomes “normal vision” when indoors or underground
^‡Echolocation must be actively being used

Skills

What my character can do well.

Starting characters must select only from the basic skills list below. Some races may have skills that are not in the basic list as part of their racial abilities. The details of the basic skills and how they are used are explained in the Skills section. Other skills are available and explained in the Skills section, which is broken into seven different section: Racial, Combat, Adventuring, Vocational, Magickery, Divinity and Sorcery.

Skill			Skill
Combat			Vocational
	Melee Fighting	Fighting with melee weapon		Acting	Entertainment, Performance
	Ranged Fighting	Fighting with a range weapon		Agriculture	Planting, Harvesting
Adventuring				Animal Breeding	Animal Breeding
	Acrobatics	Bonus to Agility Actions		Armoring	Forge Metal Armor
	Astrology	Sense of Direction, Foretelling		Bowyer	Build Bows, Arrows
	Bartering	Lower Costs, Increase Sales		Brewing	Create Beer and Ales
	Cartography	Read, Decipher Maps		Carpentry	Make Wood Construction
	Dash	Burst of Movement in Combat		Cooking	Prepare Food, Clean Carcass
	Discipline	Bonus for Spiritual Defenses		Creature Lore	Knowledge of Monsters
	Fire-Building	Build Fire without Tools		Farrier	Horseshoeing
	Language	Learn a new Language		Fishing	Catch Fish
	Lip-Reading	Eavesdrop from a Distance		Flora Lore	Knowledge of Plants
	Mental Fortitude	Bonus for Mental Defenses		Gardening	Landscaping, small food
	Mountsmanship	Control a Mount		Glass-Blowing	Glassworks
	Stamina	Bonus to Exertion Actions		History	Knowledge of History
	Swimming	Ability to Swim		Hunting	Hunting Game
	Tap and Touch	Improves Searching		Knots	Advanced Rope Use
	Under-Navigation	Direction Underground		Lapidary	Cut Gems
	Wilderness Lore	Survival in the Wilderness		Leatherworking	Create Leather, Hide Armor
	Wound Care	Render Medical Aid		Legal Work	Urban Government Work
Divinity				Masonry	Extract, Build with Stone
	Divine Accord	Connection to Deity		Mineralogy	Knowledge of Stones
	Benison	Holy Water, Spirits		Papermaking	Create writing surfaces
	Ceremony	Marriages, Funerals		Religious Studious	Knowledge of Religions
				Sailing	Sail a Ship, Command Crew
Magickery				Scribing	Writing, Calligraphy, Forgery
	Cantrip Control	Ability for Simple Magic		Skinning	Recover Hide, Extract Organs
	Any Cantrip	Simple Magical Effect		Sailing	Navigate a water vessel
Sorcery				Scribing	Writing, Calligraphy, Forgery
	Sorcery	Ability for Advanced Magic		Skinning	Remove Hides
	Spell Axiom	Learn New Spell to Cast		Tailoring	Create Clothing, Armor
				Weaponsmith	Force Metal Weapons
				Woodworking	Weapons, Build with Wood

Backstory

Childhood and existence prior to the game.

In the game, a player is pretending to be another person, living in another world, which is governed by different physics. To have a sense of what decisions to make, it is important to understand the motivation and influences of this character.

Often this can be accomplished by detailing the entity’s backstory first. Often the environment and events from growing up or living in a particular way can set a general impression of what this character will be like. When noting on the character sheet the backstory, write as much detail as desired; however, often just one or two words can summarize, such as “Criminal” or “Guild Merchant.” The other details about the past will be captured when documenting the character’s personality.

Personality

Who is this character really?

After thinking about the character’s backstory and how that influences who that character is today, a few key notes should be made, perhaps just a short sentence for the following categories.

Traits: This is a general statement of a noticeable personality behavior. It could be “I am very intolerant of those who have a different faith” or “I am a hopeless romantic but fall in and out of love quickly.”

Ideals: This is the goal or the hope of how the character would live in a perfect world. It is the inspiration that drives the character’s behavior. One example is “I aspire to prove myself worthy to my family.” Another is “I am greedy and just in this for the bounty.”

Bonds: A character’s bond is what is important to him; that for which he or she would sacrifice. This could be a person, a group of friends, a relative or even tangible objects. It might be “the workshop where I learned my trade” or “my mother means the world to me.”

Flaws: Finally, it is important to have at least one character-flaw. These are weaknesses which could undermine the character. Some might be obvious like “I am a binge drinker,” while others might be secretive like “I can’t help but pilfer a little from the share.”

Summary

• Assign 2 point to all nine sub-qualities, then assign another 4 points as desired.
• Calculate primary quality values by adding the sum of the sub-qualities and half again.
• Select race for character from alseid, batfolk, dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling, half-orc, human, jzaka or lizardfolk.
• Add racial skill to character sheet and adjust any sub-quality scores.
• Pick starting skills. Number of starting skills vary by race selected.
• Write general personality and backstory for the character.