Character Creation

Character generation in the science fantasy horror campaign setting

      Point buy: 15 points   Ability scores: No score can be reduced below 7 or raised above 18 after racial adjustment. Only exotic races are excempted from this rule. This is due to game balance and should not be viewed as a restriction to roleplay.    

Low mental ability scores

  Having several dumped mental stats makes the character vulnerable to madness and insanity, since your Sanity score is Intelligence+wisdom+charisma. An adventurer with a low sanity score will most likely have a very short career.    

Insanity and madness

(books: Horror and Occult Adventures)   An abundance of horrors can scar a being. Wounds and fatigue can ravage the flesh. Poisons and venoms can putrefy a creature from within. Curses and hexes can assault the body and soul through supernatural means. But of all the horrors a hero might face, few are as debilitating or insidious as those that assault their sanity. And what also ravages and twists the flesh also scar the mind.            

Sanity Score

  Your sanity score is equal to the sum of your mental ability scores (Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom) minus any ability damage taken to those ability scores.   Example: Intelligence: 12 Wisdom: 12 Charisma: 14 Sanity Score: 12+12+14 = 38    

Multiclassing

  Players can dip into other classes with multiclass rules if they wish. If there is no way to set in motion a concept the player wants with these rules, the GM will modify the chosen class in such a way as to make an ability possible. Creating templates et cetera.    

Fate points:

  The players must offer a toll and pay tribute with Eboracian Pirate Dublons to receive a boon and twist the fates by feeding the Black Skull of Death God, Murnandihl. Feed the black skull´s mouth with the coins to receive boons of the underworld.  

Beginning with 1 Fate point at level 1, gaining 1/level. Max 5 points.

Hero point feats are restricted from the campaign.

Uses of Fate points restricted to:  

Fortune:+8 Bonus to any D20

Inspiration (receive a hint, get a hunch etc.)

Extra move action or standard action (2 coins for attack, 1 coin for any other standard action or move action)

Recall (1 point per spell level)

Reroll any one dice (1 coin)

Cheat Death (2 coins to avoid a death blow or protection from a instant effect that would kill you, for 1 round)  

Earning coins:

 

• Beating an encounter

• Solving or finishing a quest

• Performing heroic or remarkable actions

• Roleplay

• Impressing the GM.

   

Starting wealth:

All characters begin with the given class´s average wealth and two months of savings (add 100 gp average or roll manually).

Uses for gold

Dont spend it all on equipment and drugs now ya hear! Remeber that you need pocket money to enter certain establishments, bribe streetchildren to gather information, give money to a beggar to obtain some intel, donate to a temple to receive influence, buy food and rations, rent rooms and pay to keep your horse fed in the innkeeps stable until you have your own base of operations, repair damaged gear, spend gold to buy land, buy buildings, repair the buildings, deeds of ownership, pay tolls, pay to be allowed to wear weapons in town, buy gear to your own subordinates, pay to be transported in a heavily guarded caravan etc. etc.    

Background story/Character plot arc

  Write a background story. Short or long. The GM will grant an appropriate story feat, add a class ability, or create feats specifically for your character based on his background and/or grant a spell-like ability or other boon. Write as much as you want or keep it really short and let the story unfold as you play.   Most importantly: give the character a reason to adventure and personal goal! As they will be treated as central quests to the story and game.    

Examples

 

The basics:

• Place of birth (either an excisting area, or an area the player wish to create/name).

• Presence or absence of family members.

• The past (what kind of people did the character like/hate, events that shaped the characters personality).

• The future (plans, wishes, goals, motivations).

   

Personal traits and roleplay

• What makes your character happy/sad/angry?

• What is your character afraid of?

• What the character like, hate, respect, loathe or resent.

• What is your secret reason for joining the party, if any?

• Who have you wronged?

• What would you kill to know?

• What is the characters flaws and weaknesses?

   

Guidelines for players:

 

Why join a party and stay there?

• Survival in a grim and dark world/safety in numbers.

• Access to special skills you need (protective, practical, magical, social abilities/connections etc.)

• Shared goals.

• Altruism. An internal drive to help or afflict change for the better, seek redemption for your past etc.

• It´s a job, contract, debt.

• Old aquintances.

• Someone has dirt on and blackmails the character.

• Acceptance for who you are.

     

More tips for roleplay

  1. Have a Goal: Strive to be the best at something, to create something, to see a place, to get married to someone of a different caste, or to achieve some other goal. Whatever it is, have something the character wants above all other things.   2. Have a Reputation: Maybe you’re a great juggler, or maybe you slipped on the stairs in front of the whole town. Whatever it is, it’s something locals remember about you.   3. Have a Friend: Whether a friend from school, a coworker, an army buddy, or someone you saved, have someone you’re close to and whom you wish well.   4. Have a Home: It might be a neighborhood you love, your parent’s house, or a room you rent; in any case, it’s the place you call home.   5. Have a Signature Item: A signature item is something that is recognizably yours, be it a weapon with a distinctive grip, a piece of jewelry, a lucky charm, or your favorite scarf.   6. Have a Problem: Maybe you don’t have any money, a member of your family is sick, or you’re trying to get home. Whatever the issue is, you’re doing your best to solve it.   7. Have a Secret: Maybe you can’t read, left your crewmates to die, or made your long-lost sister run away. This should be something that would embarrass or endanger you if others found out.   8. Have a Reason to Be Brave: Maybe it’s to be like your childhood hero or idol, maybe it’s to repay a debt, maybe it’s for your child, but have a reason to occasionally face your fears.   9. Have an enemy or people that wish you ill: be it people you have wronged, tricked, cheated, stolen from, killed, framed, these individuals seek revenge, justice or to get at you somehow.      

Why pursue story and character developement?

  Pursuing character story and delving into roleplay develops the characters personality and can unlock hidden resources much like a quest reward. Such things can manifest within the character when exposed to raw spell power, researching and discovering hidden knowledge, stumbling upon strange items and relics, or by advancing in a guild or faction.    

How society and the world reacts and interacts with the PCs:

  Crime

News spread fast depending on the communities and criminal act(s) involved. If the crime is great enough a manhunt will surely follow. The greater the crime, the more resources are put into the effort. The given community will determine whether the player is trialed in court, executed by an angry mob or burned at the stake in a savage tribe in the wilderness, which will drastically change the PC´s options.

NPC response or consequences to PC actions

Picking sides or factions will influence how NPC´s respond to the PC´s. same if a PC donates funds or show kindness, NPC´s will respond in kind, and rumors also spread according to what the players have done, or what statements they make.

Standing face to face with a noble, or any other NPC with power? If your behaviour does not fit social norms, expect to give the aristocrat a very bad first impression. But remember, first impressions can be mended by time, smooth talk or proving your worth, which will depend on the NPC´s personality.

Encountering entities way above the PC´s level

If engaging a huge sized stone giant don´t expect its statistics to be identical to the bestiary. Actually; whenever encountering a monster, NEVER expect them to have the same abilities as defined in the Bestiary. Keep in mind that the encountered entity has grown up somewhere, under certain conditions. Unless of course they have beforehand knowledge that particular creature, and/or has had time to investigate the creature before encountering it. NPC´s and monsters have the same opportunity to grow stronger, evolve and develop new and strange powers like the PC´s do.