Mechanics and Character Creation

[LewdiKris]

Okay Lewd, you've lured me in here, how the hell do I make a beautiful adventuress?!

 

Ah! you surprised me! Fortunately, this shouldn't take long. If my plan has worked, you already know that the mechanical stuff is mostly on my end. You won't need dice or a special character sheet. I'm going to give you a step by step guide, some examples and a template at the end. If you, at any point, feel like it's not making sense let me know.

 

STEP 1: Stats

There's five. Five whole stats. You choose one, and put a 3 in it (that's your best). Then pick two, and put 2 in each one. Lastly, put a 1 in the remaining stats. Good Job! That's your stats.

Edge: Speed, Agility and Dexterity. Archetypes who might have a high edge: Archers, Messengers, Hunters. (Note: fighting at range works off this)

Heart: Courage, Charm and Leadership. Archetypes who might have a high heart: Captains, Diplomats, Priests/Shamans

Iron: Strength, Endurance and Determination. Archetypes who might have a high iron: Warriors, Soldiers, Builders (Note: fighting up close works off this)

Shadow: Stealth, Deception and Concealment. Archetypes who might have a high shadow: Thieves, Charlatans, Trappers

Wits: Intelligence, Wisdom and Perception. Archetypes who might have a high wits: Sages, Witches, Navigators.

Dont want to play those archetypes? Excellent! Don't over think it, go with you gut and just put the numbers in.

 

Examples: (Just to give you an idea, remember, don't over think it.)

Hera, A fighting woman from the mountainous north. She's fast, Strong and good in the wilderness Edge: 2 Heart: 1 Iron: 3 Shadow: 1 Wits: 2

Meredith, A cunning caravaneer and merchant. She's charming, clever and great at inflating prices Edge: 1 Heart: 3 Iron: 1 Shadow: 2 Wits: 2

Janra Willowsap, A wise priestess of an ancient, shadowy god . She's knowledgable, insightful and well practiced in disguising the nature of her faith Edge: 1 Heart: 2 Iron: 1 Shadow: 2 Wits: 3

Thurid, A careful huntress who lives off the land. She's quiet, quick and has sharp senses. Edge: 3 Heart: 1 Iron: 1 Shadow: 2 Wits: 2

 

STEP 2: Assets (No, not those assets! Well, actually yeah, some of those assets.)

Though the last step was boring and about numbers? Good news, not a number in sight for the rest of this guide.

Now, you are going to start with three (That doesn't count.) Assets. What's an Asset? They can be a lot of things. Anything that makes your character unique, helps them to succeed and/or gives them special abilities. There will be examples to help explain.

To make your assets, answer these four questions. Rinse, repeat until you have three of them.

1. Attribute, Item or Creature? An attribute might be your keen eyes or innocent look. Items could be weapons, armour or even alchemical supplies. Creatures could be pets, horses, apprentices, etc.

2. What makes it Specific? No, you can't have an Asset that's called Sneaky, that helps me sneak. It needs to be specific in application. This can be defined by a price (Your magic sword must taste your blood before gaining power), Situational Limitation (being lightfooted is great for creeping around, but doesn't help you not be seen, only heard.) or Consequence (Whenever you break out your alchemist supplies, there's a chance of many unintended, and possibly hilarious, consequences). If you find yourself carefully working out the wording of this to get the maximum benefit for minimum drawback, you are probably missing the point.

3. What does it help you to do? This doesn't have to be exhaustive, so don't go listing everything you could imagine. Just note down a few situations or activities you think it would reasonably aid you in.

4. What is it called? Give it a nice, evocative name.

 

Examples:

Trusty Steed (Bruno)

1. Attribute, Item or Creature? Creature, a large and strong horse that has been my loyal companion for many years.

2. What makes it Specific? He's too skittish and large to go into caves or dungeons. He's also very loud, so of little help when stealth is of the essence.

3. What does it help you to do? Makes carrying heavy loads much easier, useful when charging into battle and helps me to avoid fatigue over long journeys

The Keening Blade

1. Attribute, Item or Creature? Item, a long, curved sword of ancient make and constructed with rare starmetal

2. What makes it Specific? The blade will only serve when it's wielder can sing it's song, if the song is sung poorly the blade will become heavy and dull, but if sung well it becomes light as a feather and capable of cutting through iron with ease. The sword wails and keens in harmony with the singer.

3. What does it help you to do? Makes strikes much more deadly, can scare off spirits and the undead with it's wail.

Mercantile Grace

1. Attribute, Item or Creature? Attribute, My characters ability to bargain and cajole in business in a graceful and elegant manner

2. What makes it Specific? Only useful during trade, where one thing is given for another. Other forms of negotiation and persuasion are unaffected

3. What does it help you to do? Not cause offence when asking for money in return for goods or services, raise or lower prices by a significant margin

Witchsight

1. Attribute, Item or Creature? Attribute, My character's ability to read the winds of magic and see the spirits.

2. What makes it Specific? only applies to the eldritch, mysterious energies of magic. Comes with a risk, sometimes the intesity of the magic can stun or even temporarily blind me.

3. What does it help you to do? Spot magical objects, traps and creatures. Understand the auras of such things and have partial insight into their nature.

 

You'll notice that I've varied them between types and level of supernaturalness. You should do the same, this is what will make your character stand out in many ways. So be creative and ask questions if you need to. They are all subject to approval and you will be able to gain more and improve the existing ones during the game.

 

STEP 3: Nearly there.

Now for the fun stuff, character details. We'll start with the physical. The rule of thumb here is to evoke rather than too define. Taller than most men, is better than 6'5", why? Because I have no idea how tall everyone you'll meet is, but if you're taller than most men, that's applicable regardless. Don't feel the need to get too wordy though, these are for reference.

Name: (Names are fun, in the ironlands most folk have one name and then a monicker/title Astrid the Proud, Hela Widowmaker, Skye Brightward. But don't feel restricted, the Ironlands is a diverse place.)

Build: (Are you slender, willowy, athletic, bulky?)

Height: (Comparison is helpful, but don't get hung up. "Short" is fine.)

Breasts: ( Don't get to poetic, but I don't need a cup size. Just tell me how big they are.)

Ass: (See above, though shape and firmness are not to be ignored!)

Hair: (Colour, style, things worn in it or on it.)

Eyes: (Colour and something else. Piercing blue, sea green, glittering violet, etc.)

Distiguishing Features: (What sticks out. I'd say one to three of them. Scar across bridge of her nose, heart shaped tattoo on her belly, crooked smile, missing finger, sultry eye-lashes, etc.)

The Look: (This is clothing, you can write up the whole outfit if you like, or leave it vague and only describe the key parts. But it would be good to have one thing that jumps out. A red hood, a chain of silver wound about one wrist, a single leather vambrace, etc.)

Personality:

Okay you've been filling out little bits here and there, a few words at a time. Now let loose a little. A couple of paragraphs that describe her. Don't feel overly married to what you write, characters change once the game begins and sometimes your actual person is far from what you initially imagined. But give me something to work with so that when I need to describe your characters actions, reactions or acivities on my parts, I can get it close to right.

Oaths:

You'll have one of these, for now. But you will swear more of them. It's the mechanic that directs the story and earns experience (dont worry about it, we'll talk about it when it comes up) Complete oaths to earn rewards, forsake them at your peril.

Your first oath should be a biggie. It should be the kind of oath your character might never complete and the kind of oath that defines her. Take vengeance on the necromancer, Argyn Vostholt! Find my missing father! Build a temple to the Final Dreamer! These are the sorts of things.  If we play long enough, we may achieve and swear other grand oaths, you may forsake them too. But this gives me a big, flashing neon sign about where your character is likely to go and likely to want to do.

Once the game begins, you will swear a second, smaller oath. Pertaining to the situation at hand. We'll get to that when we get there.

Well, this grew long and i'm tired, first reply is a template for copypasting. Fill your boots! Don't forget to ask questions!

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by LewdiKris

[LewdiKris]

Name:

Edge: Heart: Iron: Shadow: Wits:

Asset 1:

Asset 2:

Asset 3:

Build:

Height:

Breasts:

Ass:

Hair:

Eyes:

Distiguishing Features:

The Look:

Personality:

Oaths:

1.