So, Chapter Three is the CHARGEN CHAPTER. So remember how I said I was going to do Chapter 3 and only Chapter 3? Well, I lied. You are now strapped to a chair. You cannot leave. I have a gun.
See, this chapter? It requires bouncing around as you make your character, and each time it bounces, I'll go and tell ya some' somethin about that them there chapter. See, this book is not actually laid out that well, so I'm going to be using my immense knowledge of the book to show you how I use it - which is a more useful way of engaging with the text as a
game. Because, and here I'm putting on my crankiest
@StrigaRosa voice, back in the day, RPGs were played and not just expensive artbooks?
...okay, that's a lie, they were expensive math books, BUT STILL! The principle is the thing! The principle is playing the game!
CHARGEN!
There are three rough campaign power levels: T...Tyroic?
Well, google says that "Tyroic" is
Google said:
Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located at the front of your neck under your skin. It's a part of your endocrine system and controls many of your body's important functions by producing and releasing (secreting) certain hormones.
...wait, no that's my thyroid. I have no idea what Tyroic means. Because I think the authors just made it up. Either way, it is basically rank newbies. Then you have Heroic, then Legendary. These give you different spreads of starting statpoints (10 primary, 2 derived | 12 primary, 4 derived | and 15 primary, 6 Derived) and "character customization points" (50, 75, 100.)
Yeah! Multiple point values! Modern games like to have points, when they use points, be interchangeable in some way. And it is usually better for math. but there is something kinda fun in the constraints of where you put what stats. It forces you to think about your character in a unique way. I'm not just old, I'm also slightly deranged!
Now, for fun, lets start making a character alongside running through this chapter(s) because I need to add more work for myself.
Example: We'll stick with Tyroic level for now, due to its funny spelling and being the lowest level. This means the least choices, right?
So, after you pick your power level, you choose your
RACE and your
ORIGIN. Here is where we zoom...to chapter Fouuuuuuur! Ooooh!
CHAPTER FOUR
Chapter four introduces us to the five different peoples of Zir'an. The first are the
Ianer. They're literally just humans - though they live about 40-50 years longer on average than us. Their racial ability is Adaptability: They get 4 bonus points for merits and flaws, and they can take one skill package from a land that isn't their origin, representing the fact they travel around a lot and have diverse backgrounds.
But they also, sneakily, have a much more important ability. See, remember how you choose race and origin? So, race is your...like, species. Human! Batlady! Elf! Your ORIGIN is where you COME from, your nationality - or, what we'd call race in the real world (because racism is stupid.)
Ianer get a whopping
eighteen origins. Eighteen! most other people get
five.
Speaking of!
The next race is the
Dolonorri. They're Zir'an's version of dwarves and because I hate dwarves and my eyes glaze over any time I try and read anything about them, this Lets Read will be my first exposure to the Dolonorri beyond knowing they exist. How exciting! They can see 30 feet in darkness without light at all, get +2 to Mechanics, and get +1 to their Mass and -1 to their Acuity and +10 years to their starting age. So, so far, they're dwarves.
After them, we have the
Gogachi. These are big tall fellas and they're a bit more interesting than the Dolonorri: They get +3 Mass, -2 Intellect and -1 Acuity...however, their special ability is like, 'no, they're not actually stupid.' Basically, it lays out that the Gogachi have a very different way of thinking involving spatial reasoning and non-linear thought. They have what most people assume is a simple game that they play with specially crafted shiny rocks called Mree Tiingk - if they use them to puzzle over a problem for a few minutes, they get a whopping +5 (!!) to any roll involving spatial reasoning or math: Gunnery, visual puzzles...and Rune Magic. I really like the
attempt to acknowledge and include neurodiversity, but it's hampered by the fact they don't really engage with the fact that non-Gogachi are entirely capable of thinking in similarly different ways. Still, I appreciate what they were going for.
Next, we have the
Neolli - the aforementioned sexy bat people. They get +5 to their free movement, +2 to all athletics checks (with an additional +2 for climbing), +5 to all awareness checks, normal vision in near darkness (not total darkness), and +2 base damage and +1 armor piercing to their hand to hand attacks. Cause they have clawsies! They also get +5 to perception, but -5 to perception in urban areas, and -5 to all social rolls with non-Neolli due to FANTASY RACISM. Also, regardless of the normal starting age for the region they're from, their starting age is 8 years old, cause Neolli live very short lives.
And, finally, the
Zhalanti. The Zhalanti are elves! They're immortal, from one region, and their ability is to get +2 to all knowledge checks when not Stressed, which...gonna be honest, seems of only mild use. They can also see in low light like the Neolli! They're also immune to all diseases, which can either never, ever matter, or matter a lot depending on the GM. usually, it never matters.
But once we get the mechanical breakdown of the races, we then get some FLUFF!
ZHALANTI FLUFF
SOZ said:
The Zhalanti are the only living beings that remember the faces of their creators: the Seven Gods. Born into existence even before the World itself had been constructed, the Zhalanti lived alongside the Seven Gods on the first world: Arelas. Tutored by the gods themselves, they were a grand experiment in social engineering. The Ylar, the wellspring of life and the powering force of all magic, was created for the Zhalanti. The Seven Gods did not instruct their children on its use, forcing them to devise their own solutions. Their answer to this test was the creation of
Rune Magic. The Zhalanti were the first Runemages.
Sick. So, the Zhalanti learned more and one day, demonstrated their powers by building their own world. It was kinda small and shitty, but the Seven Gods were like, "Aight, we're impressed!" and built Zir'an in response. The Zhalanti moved onto Zir'an, and built a utopia called Thallysia, then stagnated. Then the Ianer arrived. The Zhalanti declared them "very cute" and then went even more isolationist, concealing their home using magic and ceding the world to the Ianer. Now, modern Zhalanti come to the lands of the Ianer to travel around, explore, see what's happening, then eventually head home after a few centuries of bumming around.
Physically, they're about 7 feet tall, have skin ranging from green to pink to purple, with hair that tends to white, silver, or black.
So, in short, they're preposterously sexy space elves who bum around Europe getting into scrapes before heading back to the First World. As a certified Elf Liker, I think this is a fun riff on elves. It has enough new bits in there to make them feel interesting, but it's not like...trying too hard. Basically, as Elf Liker, I don't like it when my elves are tryhard different, like how in Divinity they're weird cannibals, like, no, Larien, you're trying too hard.
IANER FLUFF
SOZ said:
Long after the Zhalanti secluded themselves from the growing world around them, the Seven Gods crafted from the void a being wholly unlike their first children. Where the Zhalanti were born into the hands of their creators, tutored, and cared for, the Ianer would be born into ignorance and savagery. The Zhalanti had their home gifted to them, while the Inheritors would have to scrawl, scavenge, and survive. The Seven Gods revealed nothing of their presence; the Zhalanti too, hid themselves from the primitive Ianer, and the eons would pass as they flourished, spread, and developed.
Now, onto the Ianer! They were an experiment, it seems, in "what if we let our children just do whatever" from the Seven Gods. The Ianer, all by themselves, cracked the basic physics of rune magic and, using it, were able to find the Seven Gods. In a fun inverse of
Pillars of Eternity's awesome twist, they pushed so hard on magitech science that they FOUND god, rather than finding no gods. This turned out to be wildly discomforting for the gods - because while the Ianer were pleased to know that they were created by something, they also then started to be all...
human about it.
SOZ said:
Each culture gave the Seven new forms and new names. To their dismay the Seven found they were mutable, and the Seven became the Forty-Nine became the Two-Thousand Four-Hundred and One. The Seven Gods had opened themselves to their children only to be fundamentally changed by the experience.
I just dig this? I think it's really fun. The rest of the Ianer section lays out that, basically, the Ianer have this worrying habit of...exploding themselves and the world. The Endwar was one such example, and the Ianer are faintly aware that another, similar war is going to happen in the future - human nature and all that.
DOLONORRI FLUFF
SOZ said:
It is believed that late in the First Age, the first Epoch that saw the rise of the Ianer upon the world, the Dolonorri were born from the mind of Drandlur, who crafted them from stone and lit within them the spark of life. Through the arteries of the world flows the life-nurturing Ylar and the Dolonorri were to be its caretakers. In those distant ages, the Dolonorri lived beneath the surface, building massive cities, and exploring the hidden beauty of the Deeper World. They mapped the pathways that could take one to the glowing heart of the world, where the Ylar
itself resides. They remained hidden from the violent Ianer who ruled the surface above. They watched as their brutish cousins warred with each other, engulfing the world in their madness. But the Dolonorri were safe in their hidden underground domains.
Hmm hmm...
So, reading this, would you say that you'd expect the Dolonorri to be in decline, crowded out by the more numerous Ianer, and that they like mechanics and gold and building mountain vastness's AND THEY'RE JUST NORMAL GODDAMN DWARVES. My disappointment is immense and by day has been ruined. I will once more continue to never think about them ever again.
NEOLLI FLUFF
SOZ said:
Of the Young Races that have appeared since the Endwar, the Neolli still elicit fear and prejudice from the intolerant and ignorant. Cannibals they call them; fiends, Shadekin. Most of the world views them with distrust, for it is difficult to see past the claws, the body clothed in fur, or the feral gaze and fanged mouth. But anyone who knows the Neolli knows that lumping them in with other Shadekin is a mistake. The Neolli actually have a culture. Only once scholars from the Treaty Nations had witnessed the depth of Neolli society, its devotion to the Seven
Gods, its icons and rituals, jewelry, its tribal artwork was this realized. All spoke of a race that had transcended the bloodthirst of their Shadekin lineage. But one cannot dismiss the bloody history the Neolli have with the rest of the civilized world.
So, basically, the Neolli started off as creepy mutant people, but transitioned into being just normal-ass people. The 'bloody history' refers to a constant state of war between them and their neighboring Ianer kingdoms, which was only called off thanks to the emergence of the Fane being a much bigger deal. Considering modern Neolli mostly just want to be left alone in their home and most of the ones to be found in non-Neolli homeland regions are there because
slavers enslaved them, I think that their whole bloodthirsty threateningness has been a bit exaggerated.
But, this bit amused me.
SOZ said:
But for the most part the Neolli want to have little to do with the rest of the world. They sense the doom that hangs over the Ianer and are unimpressed with their "great society" and their "great accomplishments." And so long as there are Ianer who refuse to see the Neolli as nothing but the brutal savages they once were, forever shall the two peoples remain divided.
This is actually pretty true to hunter gatherers in the 19th and 20th century visiting Europe. Like, people judge places by their own contexts, not your context.
GOGACHI FLUFF
SOZ said:
During the time of re-building after the plagues of the Endwar had dissipated, a new race emerged, the Gogachi, a race whose massive bodies, whose language and even mindset were alien to the other races of Zir'An. Before the War of the Fane and subsequent arrival of Valkan the Gogachi were scattered tribes of people living on the various tropical isles of the Fire Reaches. At that time the Fire Reaches were much harder to navigate because there were many more small islands; their jagged shores formed a maze leading to the main island chain, and heavy
volcanic mists obscured the safest path. So the Gogachi existed alone and undisturbed, their culture, though primitive, thrived until one day a strange tribe of small men came to their shores in "iron fish."
I find it interesting that the Gogachi and Neolli are two races that are explicitly stated as not being created by Gods, but instead, simply emerging naturally after the Endwar. So, I think they're pretty closely related to Ianer. Either way, the Gogachi history is a bit like the Neolli one but less Racistly. Like, the writers seem to actually recognize that it is bad when the Ianu Voss (the same slavers from before, hmm) showed up and manipulated the Gogachi into being their slaves. However, a Fane rose from their ranks during the time of the Fane, named VULKAN (quite a reach to come up with that name, right, considering they're from a volcanic set of islands) and he...liberated them, then formed what amounts to a trade union with Vulkan as the god/union boss.
I think that makes Vulkan the second good Fane after Kah? Seems like it.
Also, fun fact, Vulkan is one of the Fane Kah
didn't depose or kill!
CHAPTER THREE AGAIN
So, now that you've picked your Race and know what they're like, you now choose your origin! Which means
CHAPTER FIVE!
We're onto Chapter Five: Character Origins. This covers all the nation-states and regions that your character can actually
be from. These give you a second starting merit, your starting age, some starting skills, starting aptitudes, starting STATS! They're kind of a big deal. Almost a bigger deal than your species. In fact, one might say that the selection of your species matters more for what country selections you can be from than any inherent stats.
And you know what?
Good! This still has some bioessentialism, but it's one step better than how D&D does it, where racial modifiers are basically half the modifiers, and the other half is your class. What is more, you can actually get a merit called "adoptive homeland" later, which lets you get even more culturally mixed. It's not perfect, but it is still a huge step ahead of other RPGs at the time which hadn't even hit the 'is it racist to give all orcs -2 to intelligence? ...no, no, this is fine' stage. Like, they weren't even
asking the question, they were just doing it. Dark ages, man. Dark ages.
Still, your origin gives you a spree of starting skills at Basic finesse level and you can get 2 points of practice to put into one or two skills, as you see fit.
LETS GO DOWN DA LIST! You will learn more about each nation-state later. Lets see what we can learn about them now!
Arivonnean
They have relatively high physique, intellect and acuity and lowish mass. Their special merit is Weather Sense (you can sniff out what the weather is gonna be like a few days in advance with a DC15 awareness check.) Every single Arivonnean starts with Piloting, Mechanics, and Lore: Airplanes. And their country sounds like "Air-Vonne." Yo,
@open_sketch I found Himmilguard! Their starting connections are to pilot guilds, trade guilds, or "resistance movement." Ooh!
Ba-Durai
Average down the line for all stats, and their merit is "Fires of bin Sa'la." They're NEVER AFRAID. Ever. Literally, all intimidation and magical fear checks just fail, and being threatened is never a stressed situation. Combat still counts, though. Their skills are some combat stuff, some riding horses. THeir connections are to merchants, the "Ben'Sha'oud", or to some kind of royalty (there are apparently many royal families.)
Ballinorian
Average down the line for stats, their merit is "Mechanical Affinity." They get to just know about machines with a relatively easy check, including their innerworkings. Their skills are, this is gonna shock you: Mechanics! There's also a pretty hefty spread of ranged combat, melee combat and survival skills, with connections to things like "mechanics guild" and "Militia party."
Bhuketi
Very high physique, average elsewhere. Their special merit is "Lhar's Will" - apparently, some guy named Lhar dominates the will of his people...and that means no one else gets too. +5 to resist all forms of mind control, but -5 to resist Lhar's mind control - which includes that cast by his slavers, disciples and priests. Oh no! Skills include unarmed and meditation, while connections are things like "Shree Kat Underground" and "Slave Traders" - so, it looks like you need to pick whether you are pro or anti-Lhar. ...I'd say be anti? Anti sounds good.
Cyrooni
Oh noooo! It's time for the...
1990s Casual Racism! They have really low physique, low intelligence, and preposterously high acuity. They're also have the ability to...ahem...literally smell gold. They can SMELL gold with their...BIG NOSES. Oof...OOF...OOF I SAY.
Drakani
These guys are bigger than most (higher mass), but are otherwise average. Their innate ability is the charmingly titled "Life of Agony", which makes them immune to uncomfortable environments because their home sucks so much. They have connections with things like "Bazhna-Zi" and "Tilandri Resistance Movement." A lot of resistance movements in the connections throughout Zir'an. Which is something I really love, the 1920s revolutionary vibe is strong, which drives a ton of plots!
Edyssian
These guys have low physique, low mass, high intellect, high acuity. What's fun, though, is their merit: Learning Knack! They have 4 floating points of Practice that they can add at any point to any skill they have no finesse level in PER session! The idea is they just picked it up reading a magazine or as a hobby some day. It's fun. They have no starting combat skills, but their connections are to university, professors, and adventurers.
The Fire Reaches
Hey, this is where the Gogachi are from! Since it's the Gogachi home, they start with preposterously high physique, mass, and relatively low acuity and VERY low intellect. THeir starting merit is Environmental Tolerance: They
double their already massive Mass for resisting poisons and toxins and ignore extreme heats - and toxic environments are never a stressor for them. Pretty nice! They start with mechanics and some combat skills and connections to pit fighters, the Fire Reache's priesthood, or Edyssian Professors (hi Edyss!)
Harakyri
Average statline, but their starting merit is an instinctive understanding of Fate such that they CAN SNIFF OUT PLAYER CHARACTERS - they can tell if someone is Chosen on sight. Also, all socialize rolls are made one step easier if they're not stressed, thus, making it far more likely that they'll get a superior success. Neato! I think someone fucked up on the typing because their connections are the exact same as the Fire Reaches...but, also, who knows, maybe the Harakyri are also being studied by Edyssian sociologists for the fact they can literally smell main character on people. ...okay, now that I mention it, that does sound like something a sociologist might be interested in.
Ianu Vossian
Heyyy, we've heard of these guys, they're the ones who were mentioned as enslaving both the Neolli AND the fucking Gogachi! Their connections are to Industrialists, the navy and nobility, and their starting merit is "The art of the deal" - they're raised with an eye towards legality and using that legality to fuck other people over, allowing them to use their Intuit skill at +1 finesse level if they're engaged in dealmaking, wheeling, and fucking people over.
Illestani
These guys are tuff and massive and have a BATTLE TRANCE ability that lets them ignore all negative effects from damage until they're either dead, unconscious, or combat is over. And their connections are to "war priests", "Infantry", or "Mercinaries." So, I think these guys might be...from the fight country. Of fightstania.
Kleshti
Average stats save for high acuity, and, uh, hoo boy! Guess what it's time for...
1990s Casual Racism! Their special merit is the ability to speak with lying duplicitous words to twist the minds of foreigners so much that they'll believe aaanything! Literally, with an Elite (DC25) conversation check, a Kleshti can convince someone the sky is pink for a little bit.
An Aside: the real issue is, despite me saying that this is better than the D&D method of chargen...that's not saying much. This framework, while it is trying to communicate the diversity of Zir'an and its people, has the unfortunate byproduct of just...smooshing physiological differences, cultural tradition, and straight up magic into a weird mishmash. It's also not entirely clear if only some people in a region can do these things - like, are all Kleshti wormy sneakwhisperers? Are all Illestani battlefighters? Or is it just the heroic PCs that come from those areas that pick this stuff up. The moments where I bring out the casual 1990s racism counting gag is where...things verge away from the "silly fantastical" and into "oh that's just...like...antisemetism" vibes, ya know? Like how (spoilers) the Kleshti are all from the land of evil betrayers who betray people, and their racial ability is to convince people to believe anything, like...Jesus Christ, man.
Merchant Islander
The sailing land people! With sailing land skills, and connections to sailing ships, and pirates, and yar har fiddle de dee! Their special merit is fun, though: They can automatically locate where they are anywhere in the world with generalities using an Awareness DC15 check, and anywhere within a few hundred meters with a DC20 check. They can make it one step easier if they have an Area Knowledge of the area they're in. That's fun!
Mikeshi
Low physique, high mass, high acuity, and skills of survival, tracking in the wilderness, and connections to shamans, tribes, and Edyssian sociologists, okay, does everyone on Zir'an have a fucking Edyssian taking notes about how they take a dump? (The answer is yes, Edyss is France.) Their special ability is they can mimic animal noises using Lore: Naturalism. At DC15, they can mimic noises so other Mikeshi can understand it as a signal for sending messages, while at DC25, they mimic it so well they can TALK TO ANIMALS, which is fun!
Neoll
Shocking news, but this is where the Neolli are from! They can make a DC15 intimidation check and if they succeed, everyone in 15 feet becomes DEAF. Non-magically deaf, they need to be healed using the normal healing rules. It's a hypersonic roar, which means yes, I was right, they ARE bat people! I imagine it like Toph in the Ember Isles players.
The Periphery
High physique, high acuity, low mass, low intellect. Their connections call out that they have archeologist friends (remember the opening?) and their innate ability is to be basically immune to heat, dust storms, desert, and they can retain water twice as long as normal people, making survival one step easier in a desert. Think the Periphery might be a desert? I think it might be a desert. Some subtle hints here that it's a desert.
Talusian
Straight average stats, but their special merit is...okay, yes, technically, I think it is casual 1990s racism, since it's "The art of Love and War", and it lets them determine if someone they're talking too is motivated by love or hate, allowing them to better manipulate them because every Talusian is a hot blooded Spaniard who is full of passionate intensity. But
can you be racist against people from Spain? Debate in the comments! (...yes)
Thallysian
This is where Zhalanti are from! Anyway, did you know that every single Zhalanti leaves their home with a magical shapeshifting sword that is attuned to their innermost thoughts and, as they grow more and more adept with it, becomes sharper and shaper? And if they lose this SILVER BLADE, they'll do ANYTHING to get it back WOW, yeah, I know, I love Dak'kon too, you fucking NERDS. You fucking NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDS! We will now all throw rocks at
The Secrets of Zir'an and bully them. Oh, they also start with Rune Magic as an innate cultural skill, being one of the two people that do this. That's pretty nice!
Thraycean
I admit, I always forget these guys exist. Average stats, they have sailor skills and connections, and their inherent merit is that they get access to a special lore skill called "The Canticle" which records everything that ever happened in zir'an, ever. "With this skill the user can gain historical insight into nearly any situation or locale. This nsight can occasionally be prophetic, or reveal secrets that have long since been buried. Thraycean storytellers are renowned across Zir'An." This ability sounds neat and, like, entirely useless if the GM is lazy.
Tilrandi
Oh what's that? It's...
1990s Casual Racism!? Again? So soon after tje Talusian (i decided you can be racist against Spaniards.) I...just...just fucking read this...
SOZ said:
The Tilandri have an aura of mystery, a powerful allure that many find irresistible. The individual Tilandri character chooses to emphasize either Connive or Seduction, and regardless of the situation, the character is never considered Stressed for the use of the chosen skill. The Tilandri are in complete control of their demeanor, so attempts to read their motives, etc, through the use of the skill Intuit, will result in a false impression dictated by the Tilandri character.
If you think 'well, that's not too bad' uh, the Tilandri are all wandering, roaming travelers who live in wagons and have their own language and culture and oh goddamn it White Wolf, goddamn it. Again! You did it again! Was
World of Darkness: Slurs NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!?
Though, to be a bit two faced, a bit Janusesque if you will...I think that while the "racial abilities" are cringe as fuck and extremely un-cool, the general presentation of the Tilrandi are actually kind of rad. Their plight as a racialized and persecuted minority in the Dominion of Drakan is really quite sympathetic, and they're the out and out heroic resistance fighters for freedom and good. Like, the game does want you to be on their side, in a clueless
Hunchback of Notre Dam sort of way.
Vallueneian
These guys are straight average down the line, and have very boring skills (occupation skills, connections to 'family friend', knowledge: Vallueni and Zir'an, that kind of thing) and their merit is even more boring still, it just gives you 4 more languages. I call it the "excuse to take the 'i no longer have my regional merit' flaw for 10 free points" merit!
Vandalusian
The only non-Zhalanti homeland that begins with the rune magic skill! These guys are...literally part of a hive mind. I think that's neat!
SOZ said:
Through the use of Meditation, Vandalusans can tap the collected unconscious of other Vandalusans. While more effective when within their own borders, Vandalusans can hear these "voices" through meditative exercise from anywhere. Vandalusans use this great unseen cacophony of voices as a means to gain answers to questions. The answers are never straightforward but will be in riddles, further questions, or interpretive imagery. Often a Vandalusan will have to spend at least three hours in deep meditation to get any sort of recognizable answer or dialogue. While inside Vandalusa, this is an Advanced (15) Meditation skill test, an Expert (20) Meditation skill test when outside of it. With a Superior Success, the clarity of the answers or information gleaned will be greater (at the Hand of Fate's discretion).
Like, that's just cool. It's why I still do love this game, despite its problems, like, it genuinely has creative and fun and player centric abilities that give the power to do cool and flavorful things TO THE PLAYERS in a way that feels very bold and forward looking - the kind of thing you see in good PBTA, like Flying Circus, or Flying Circus, and, also, Flying Circus.
CHAPTER THREE...AGAIN!?
Now, we distribute all our stats, since our origins give us our minimums and maximums. Remember how I was doing an example, like, 1,500 words ago? Lets check in on him!
Example: So, our Tyoric level character! What shall they be? I've decided I want to make a kind of sexy wizard. So, Vandalusian sounds like the best bet. Only Ianer can be from Vandalusia, so we note that down. Vandalusia's starting stats (and maximum stats) are 3(10), 3(10), 7(14), 6(14). Since we have 10 primary stat points, lets pop the physique and mass to average (he's average) for 2 points each, then split the remaining 6 into Intellect and acuity, for a statline of.
PHYSIQUE: 5
MASS: 5
INTELLECT: 10
ACUITY: 9
This gives us derived stats of...
Reactions: 8
Speed: 9
Perception: 10
Shadow: 8
Hand to Hand: 3ap1
We get 2 points to add to those and since we don't wanna be useless in a scrump, we'll put 2 points into Reaction (bumping it to 10.)
He has ((5/2)+5)*(5/2)) Vitality, which comes out to 24 vitality (remember, round up!), with 3 damage per lethal wound. His head has 2 lethal wounds, his arms have 3 lethal wounds, his legs have 4 lethal wounds, his chest has 5 lethal wounds and his abdomen has 3 lethal wounds.
Bingo bongo!
Next, you are given a number of CCP (Character Customization Points) to buy skill packages...because this game's also a LIFEPATH SYSTEM BABYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! YEAAAAAAAH!
OBNOXIOUS AIRHORN NOISES. Which means it's time for-
CHAPTER SIX, SERIOUSLY?
So, I cannot go into depth on every single skill package in the game. I will instead give you a basic outline of how they work and their basic vibe. So, each nation/origin area has special skill packages, representing being a part of something in that region. So, you can be an Edyssian Journalist, or an Arivonne Pilot, or a member of the Drakkani Violet Circle an order of secretive shadowmages that quietly torment the poor and desperate of the Dominion in their unending quest for power and dominance. you know, normal stuff. There are also a large number of universal skill packages, as you can only take skill packages from your home and you may want to dip into something else!
Each package has a cost, years spent, aptitude points provided, languages provided, and then a large list of skills and skill points. You will never have as many skill points as there are skill options, so you choose how many you place into your character sheet! Once you've spent as much CCP as you want on Skill Packages, you convert those skill points into Finesse Levels or Points of Practice.
So, say you take Gier L'Avonce Nacionall - the Edyssian Defense Forces twice, putting 2 skill points into Ranged: Medium (you'd have more than just 2 skill points, I'm just being basic for ease of understanding.) You can now EITHER spend 1 point to get Basic and 1 point to get +1 practice (you never trained in expert school, but you did get lots of field practice), or you can spend both points to get Advanced skill, but have +0 practice.
Make sense?
Cool!
Lets see how I do it!
Example: So, I wanna make a wizard! First, we take a peep at what Vandalusa has to offer. Since I start with Rune Magic at Basic, and I put both ranks of practice you get for your origin into it...and I want to get it at least to Advanced with +5 points of practice, that means I need at least 1 for finesse and 3 for practice, so, I need 4 ranks of Rune Magic to really fit my ~vibe~ Eyeballin' my choices, I see that one of the skill packages is "hermit of the hinterland", wherein I spend 1 year for the low low cost of 12 character points meditating about ancient mysteries on a rock. This gives me 6 skill points and, most interesting, Rune Magic (x2), meaning I can smack down 2 of those points PER PURCHASE onto the Rune Magic.
So, for 2 years, our 12 year old (our start age) Vandalusian sat on a rock in the wilderness and thought a lot of deep thoughts about Lore: Rune Magic (**), Rune Magic (****), Athletics (**), Awareness (**), and Survival (**). Okay, this implies there was a lot of scrambling, climbing, and generally roughing it. The Hermit path also gives +1 Aptitude points, so we can bump Knowledge (which starts at 2 for Vandalusians) to 3, and Physical to 2, but Social is still at 1. As a note, you cannot put Aptitude points into anything that doesn't have a skill choice in the package - so, a Vandalusian hermit cannot get better at their social mores. Weird, I know?
Still, that leaves me with 26 character points and a character that, legally speaking, cannot drink, drive, vote, or have sex, several things I enjoy doing as my characters. So, looking around, I see that there are also Vandalusian Custodians. These guys, according to the descriptions, protect the magical knowledge of Vandalusia with their fists of fury and remarkable rune magic, but...I dunno, it doesn't vibe with me. Plus, as an Ianer, I can take a skill package from anywhere else! Just one, though.
I peek around and see that the Bhuketi skill packages include something called MEMBER OF THE SCREAMING FIST and, like...how can I not join the martial artist magicians who live on the mountains and seek to overthrow the tyrannical god-king of their hermit kingdom using their mighty scissor kicks and psychocrushers. It costs 24 points, takes 4 years, but gives me 2 aptitude points, which I can use to bump Physical to 3 and Social to 2. It gives me 2 language points so I can speak something OTHER than Vandalusian (yay!), and 12 skill points. I nab Connections: Screaming Fist (*), Connection: Koba Priests (*), Unarmed (**), Area Knowledge: Hidden Koba Temples (*), Lore: Koba (*), Lore: Lhar's Minions (*), Intuit (*), Intimidate (*), Security (*), Stealth (*), Meditation (*)
So, ages 12-14: Sitting on rock.
Ages 15-18: Killing Slavers With His Bare Hands.
What a king.
Now that we have the skill points arranged, we can begin turning them into finesse/skill ranks. He has Basic on everything with one asterisk, Advanced on anything with two, and then Advanced +5 total POP for Rune Magic. Oh, and his Meditation is advanced, since a Vandalusian starts with Meditation basic. Good for him!
CHAPTER THREE AGAIN ARE YOU KIDDING ME DRAGON
So, we're back to Character Creation and in this step we choose...VALDREYR!
It is here I reveal that i was a big fucking liar. Remember when I said races have merits? and origins have merits? I was
lying to you. They don't have merits. They have...Valdreyr~
SOZ said:
A Vandalusan term that does not lend itself well to translation, Valdreyr is that which life has given one that makes you a unique being. It may be you are rugged as the mountains of Bhuket, or have the finest technical mind in Edyss, or weave Runes like a prodigy. Perhaps your will matches the steely one of the Voivodh himself, or you might even be one of the Fane, cursed with limitless power. Valdreyr is all of these things and more. When creating a character, Valdreyr defines the talents, abilities
and characteristics that single your character out from the majority of Ianer. You may buy beneficial Valdreyr with Character Creation Points, or take detrimental Valdreyr to add to your Character Creation Point pool. The total number of CCPs that you use, both positive and negative, is limited by your character's age. Your total value of your positive and negative Valdreyr must therefore be equal to or less than the Character's starting age.
In other words they're fucking merits and flaws you
goddamn nerds. I can't decide if this is genius or stupid, but I think it may be fucking stupid. Just call them merits and flaws, guys! However, I do think that the limiter being your age is actually pretty clever - putting a hard cap on how wiggy whack your character can be. The merits and flaws are actually...better designed than I expected, save for a few that are completely whacked out...but even the ones that are whacked out are, like, balanced out by you having to cram them into your age!
It's neat, I think it's neat.
And, like, I enjoy fiddling with characters at this level of granularity, even if the results are silly.
Speaking of-
CHAPTER SEVEN??? YOU HAVE TO STOP, DRAGON, PLEASE, I HAVE A FAMILY
So, the merit and flaw list is pretty robust. But here, we see why Zir'an is kind of big brained. Lets look at some of these flaws.
Hunted: Someone is trying to kill you, and they're big and important
Outlaw: You're wanted by bounty hunters
Enemy: You have a specific big bad after you
Dark Secret: There's a dark secret in your past that enemies are trying to uncover
Debt: You owe people lots of money and they'll send goons to break yer legs
Why are these flaws so great? Well, in exchange for getting more skill packages (thus, making your character more effective at everything you want them to do) and more positive merits (which are cool), you give the GM plot hooks. As the GM, if you go, "My character stole the mask of Mire'ka from the Cult of the Fane and they are sending masked assassins to kill him" I go, "oh! Got it!" AND NOW I CAN THROW NINJAS AT THEM ANY TIME I WANT! Players are happy! GM is happy! Game continues to have adventures!
It's great.
Is it balanced?
Fuck no! Not even slightly. Your trade agreement is "having a cool plot" and in return you get "more busted powers." But, counterpoint, it's imbalanced in a way that favors the campaign being exciting and fun and against being boring.
Now, there are busted ass merits. Specifically, Alacrity! Alacrity costs 10 points (meaning I think it's
literally impossible for my example character to get...no, not quite, he has 2 CCP and can take 8 points in flaws and still have 10 "years" with which to buy alacrity) and it reduces the speed cost of every action by 1 to a minimum of 1 and HOLY SHIT ARE YOU INSANE!? There is an adding cost to doing repeat actions, so, if you want to punch three times, it costs 2, then 3, then 4 but, counterpoint, NOW IT COSTS 1, 2, 3!? Like, fuck. Jesus.
Another fun merit I like is Nimble. Nimble gives you a second free five foot step, so as a free action, you can step out of cover, shoot someone, then five foot step back into cover. It synergizes well with the Neolli racial ability of moving 10 feet instead of 5 feet per free movement, if you just really wanted to fuck with melee centric characters.
Example: ...so, remember that thing I said I could do? Well, anyway, my punchman gets the Wanted (-8) flaw representing that he's been so troublesome over the last 4 years that Lhar has a specific bounty on his head, and hunters from across Zir'an, eager for the gold rewards of the God King of Bhuket are eagerly searching for this happy warrior. This gives him enough CCP to get Alacrity, cause it's mcfucking busted, and gives him a total amount of Merits/Flaws as his age (18.) He also gets 4 FREE merit points for being Ianer. Because I am shallow and will always, always, always buy any merit that says I am pretty, I bought the Beautiful (+2) merit and that leaves 2 points, which I will spend on Quick (+2), which adds +1 to his initiative. Neat!
CHAPTER THREE HERE WE GO ALMOST DONE RIGHT?
Now, here, if we had CCP to spend on Battle Arts - which are special combat moves for punchkicks, we would. But we don't! So, we go on to the next stage of Equipping the character. This is based on your Connections!
Basic Connections lets you get 2 common or 1 uncommon
Advanced lets you get 4 common or 2 uncommon or 1 rare
Expert lets you get 4 common AND 2 uncommon, or 2 rare, or 1 Very Rare
Elite lets you get 8 Common AND 4 Uncommon, or 2 rare AND 1 very rare, or 2 Very Rare
So, you know what...stop struggling, the restraints are quite tight.
CHAPTER EIGHT
There's a fuckton of gear in this game and, gonna be honest, I think the rarity and the cost (they have both) are kind of...like, they clearly just made stuff up that felt right, and went to bed. The rarity works extremely well for starting chargen...but, you can also take a "rarity level" of currency (called flats). So, like, you could take 1 Rare Amount of Currency and start the game with 5d10 x500 coins. Which, like, that's easily gonna be close to 7,000ish coins? The most expensive, incredibly rare as shit, impossibly good Talusian work of art rapier, the Xopana? It costs 4,500 flats.
There are no real rules about spending flats in chargen but my hard and fast rule is Fuck No!! The rarity system is really quite elegant, and if you build yourself with tons of connections, you get lots of gear and it's pretty reasonable.
I'm going to do a closer read on the gear later, because I think it's neat. I just wanted to bring it up now as part of this chargen flow chapter.
Example: Our wizard has three connections as Basic (two from being in the Screaming Fist, one from his Vandalusian origin.) This means he can get 6 common or 3 uncommon items. Being a wizard, he'll take a Rune Magic kit (uncommon), a collection of books on rune magic (uncommon) and a tent and camping kit (common and common.)
CHAPTER THREE ONCE MORE
Finally, we pick our Languages. Something really fucking cool about Zir'an, if you ask me?
There's no Common. There are, instead, 22 goddamn languages, ranging from Common to Very Rare ones (haha, see what I did there?)! There are three relatively common languages most people speak: Empyriar, the native language of the Vallunei, the largest country on the main continent of Zir'an. Erimani, the native language of the Ianu Voss, who taught a lot of people it at gunpoint...and then LaVass, the native language of Edyss, who taught it to people the same way the French did, at gunpoint (frenchly.) Uncommon languages are stuff like the native language of Bhuketi, Ba-Dur, and Ballinore, while Rare languages gets into the battle language of Ilestan (BATTLAN), and Kleshti's lanugage of Savastri. The Very Rare languages are either from hermit kingdoms that have no trade, like the speech of the Fire Islands or the Zhalanti, or...like, humans genuinely cannot make all the noises, like Riakh (the Neolli language.)
I love this. I really hate how most games treat language, but this games whole hog into creating a big thriving linguistic blanket, and then gives characters who are polyglots a huge excuse to lean into it. It's a good idea in character creation for everyone to, like, choose a Lingua Franca to speak.
Also, like skills, Languages have finesse levels - basic is an accent, advanced is no accent, expert starts getting into "you can affect regional accents" which is fun, like, if you speak LaVas (Advanced), you will always sound like Fantasy Parisian, but if you get LaVas (Expert), you can start imitating, like...Corsica or something. I don't know what Europe is.
Example: So, our wizard can speak Vandasul, the native language of Vandalusia, natively. He also can speak Empyriar as a native, because Vandalusians get TWO native languages to start with due to their focus on learning. So, since he has 2 ranks in any language and it'd be EXTREMELY RUDE to join a secret order of militant monks and NOT speak the language after 4 years, so, he'll take Pa'Daskret at Advanced.
Finally, we have a little chart of Age, rules for Encumbrance (all gear has a encumbrance, which you can carry Mass x3 amount of, fortunately, all he's carrying is relatively light weight), and...
We're...
Done?
Well, not quite. The rest of the chapter is like: "That's a lot! Lets talk it over." And it goes over how to talk over characters with your GM - get an idea of the game, talk about how you can fit into a group with your character. There's also some fun sidebars throwing out archetype ideas. Combat characters get suggestions like being a soldier in the Vallunei army, a WHIRLING DERVISH warrior from Ba-Dur, or a gladiatorial pit fighter from the Fire Reaches. Magic characters get ideas like being a Battlemage of Illestan, or a Gogachi volcano cultist, or a Vandalusian mystic (hey, that's me!), and some Underworld suggestions (street thief's from Cyroon, wandering Tilrandi tricksters, and revolutionaries from Thrace.)
Next, we have CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT!
Now, one important part of character advancement...is in the eratta. Because they forgot to tell you how much Finesse Levels cost!
So, Finesse Levels cost 8, 4, 8, 16 to get Basic, Advanced, Expert, Elite. It's hard to pick things up, but it gets easier, then harder again.
Advancing an Aptitude costs the new level x2. So, going from 2 to 3 costs 3x2 or 6 XP.
It costs 1 more than the Practice to raise it. So, going from 0 Practice to 1 costs 1 XP. You have to have used the skill in a session to do so, and can only do so once per session.
It costs 1 more than a stat to raise it. So, going from 9 Physique to 10 Physique costs 10 XP!
And finally, there's two pages that break down the character sheet, but the character sheet is ugly and I never use it. However, reading it now, I see it's also a step by step checklist of CHARGEN too! It includes some steps I skipped like "Choose your character's Faith" at Step 5 (fill out max age?), and hte bizarre idea that you...add up your CCP at step *9* rather than just having them at Step 4 (which is when you ostensibly pick skill packages) and subtracting them there. There are steps telling you how to write down the combat stats for your chosen weapons, armor, and such. But we can deal with all that later.
Hilariously, at no point does it mention that Chapter 11: Magic is where you go to learn how many spells you start with. it DOES say to go to Chapter 11: Magic to learn "what you roll for Rune Magic" which is...nuts, because, uh, you roll the same thing for Rune Magic as you roll FOR EVERYTHING ELSE, it's 1d10+Apptitude+Stat+Practice.
Still!
We do have to name our character.
Suggest a name in the comments!
Tomorrow? We're on to Chapter...
E...Eight?
I think?
Yeah, chapter Eight.
The restraints have been unlocked.
