Character Generation Rules

[Malazek]

CHARACTER CREATION …

This campaign will feature a lot of action and exploration, so characters should be built accordingly. That doesn’t mean the game will be “hack and slash,” but it won’t be a “political intrigue” game, either. It will include dungeons to explore, mysteries to solve, problems to face, NPC’s to interact with, and so on. Characters designed as “one-trick ponies” will likely be less successful than those with a few tricks up their sleeves.

Character creation rules start on page 14.

Attributes: We will be using the “Purchase” method, using 20 points. See page 15-16.

Race: All player-characters are human. Other races (such as elves and dwarves) exist in the world, but they are things of folklore and often dangerous to humans. They are not suitable as playable races.

Character should, however, pick which region of the Five Realms they hail from: Kelbany, Danmar, Arkonia, Daxony, or the Narland. One player can choose to be from a foreign land, such Ma’ag, Qeshmet, or Mavedia … but only one; the rest of the characters need to be from the Five Realms. (Note that although the campaign will start in Umbrafall, player-characters cannot be from Umbrafall).

In addition to the normal rules for being human, characters gain access to a unique feat that is only available to people from their homeland. You do not have to choose this feat as one of your starting feats, but it is recommended.

• Arkonian: You get a +2 bonus to Ride and Profession (Merchant) skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in one of these skills, the bonus increases to +4 for that skill. Furthermore, both of these skills are always considered class skills, regardless of the character’s actual class.
• Danmarian: You get a +2 bonus to Profession (Sailor) and Knowledge (Geography) skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in one of these skills, the bonus increases to +4 for that skill. Furthermore, both of these skills are always considered class skills, regardless of the character’s actual class. Note that monks from Vulcan’s Forge are not necessarily Danmarians (see below).
• Narlander: You get a +2 bonus to Knowledge (Religion) and Knowledge (Nobility) skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in one of these skills, the bonus increases to +4 for that skill. Furthermore, both of these skills are always considered class skills, regardless of the character’s actual class. If the character is from Moledro, replace one of these two skills with Craft (Weapons), instead.
• Daxon: You get a +2 bonus to Knowledge (Dungeoneering) and Craft (Armor) skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in one of these skills, the bonus increases to +4 for that skill. Furthermore, both of these skills are always considered class skills, regardless of the character’s actual class.
• Kelban: You get a +2 bonus to Knowledge (Local) and Knowledge (Nature) skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in one of these skills, the bonus increases to +4 for that skill. Furthermore, both of these skills are always considered class skills, regardless of the character’s actual class. If the character is from the Isle of Kin, replace one of these two skills with Craft (Bows), instead.

Even though Vulcan’s Forge is in Danmar, the monks who reside there are not necessarily Danmarians. They may choose whichever regional feat is appropriate to the region they grew up. Alternately, they may choose the following, instead:

• Vulcanite: You get a +2 bonus to any two Craft skills’ checks (determined when this feat is taken). If you have 10 or more ranks in one of these skills, the bonus increases to +4 for that skill.

If your character is from the Fabled Lands of Ma’ag, Qeshmet, and Mavedia, you may choose the following as a regional feat:

Fablelander: You get a +2 bonus to Knowledge (Engineering) and Knowledge (Planes) skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in one of these skills, the bonus increases to +4 for that skill. Furthermore, both of these skills are always considered class skills, regardless of the character’s actual class.

Class: Only classes from the main Pathfinder book are available. There is no multi-classing and no prestige classes, at this point in the campaign. Furthermore, I would generally like to see only one member of each class, but some exceptions could exist, if both players are cool with it. Examples …

• Multiple barbarians, if they are somehow related to each other; blood brothers, shield brothers, cousins, etc.
• Multiple fighters could exist, as long as they emphasized different fighting styles. For example, if a greatsword-wielding fighter already existed, then the second fighter should something other than a “great” weapon (like a bow, a spear, a sword-and-shield combo, two weapons, wt.al).
• Multiple rogues could exist, especially if they are partners in crime. They should still make some effort to specialize in different skills from one another (for example, maybe one is a con man while the other is a pickpocket, or something similar).
• There should probably be only one wizard, but we really have a lot of players, then a second wizard might be okay, provided the two choose different schools and different arcane bonds.
• There should definitely only be one sorcerer and his bloodline shouldn’t be too similar to the wizard’s arcane school.
• There should probably be only one bard, one cleric, one druid, one paladin, and one ranger.
• In the event that the first member of the class has become inactive (i.e. dropped-out or just MIA), then a second member of that class will have to be allowed (regardless of class).
• If we have more than seven players, we may need to be a bit more lax on these limitations. In fact, with more than nine players, “doubling-up” becomes unavoidable.

Languages
The native language of most characters is the “Common Tongue” of the Realms. Characters know a number of additional languages equal to their intelligence mod. Druids know their own secret language, in addition to their normal number of languages. Furthermore, every rank in the Linguistics skill grants another language. That’s a lot of languages.

Characters from outside the Realms do not speak the Common Tongue natively and MUST spend one of their bonus languages to learn it. The native language of Eastern Arkonia is Arkonian. The native languages of the Fabled Lands include Ma’agonian, Qeshmetian, and Mavedian.

When choosing bonus languages, players are encouraged to choose languages their character should actually know. For most characters, that includes the historical languages, as well as the languages granted by their class. Characters from the Fabled Lands, however, probably do not know the historical languages, but would instead know the languages from their own lands. Characters may also know other languages, if they have some reason to know it, and are encouraged to know such languages where appropriate. For example, a Danmarian could easily know Jotun, while an Arkonia could easily know East Arkonian. A ranger should know the language of his favored enemy, while a cleric with the water domain should understand Aquan. Use common sense and check with the DM when in question. Note that languages learned through the linguistics skill do not require explanation. In fact, characters with the linguistics skill can use that skill to justify any languages they might know, bonus or otherwise.

Common Languages:

• Common Tongue: the “lingua franca” of the Realms.
• Augustine. The language of the old August Empire.

Historical Languages of the Realms:

• Old Danmarian. The language of historical Danmar.
• Ancient Kelban. The language of historical Kelbany.
• High Daxon. The language of historical Daxony, still used by Daxon nobles.
• Royal Nar. The language of the historical Narland and the old nobles of Kelbany.
• Arkonian. The language of historical Arkonia and the native language of East Arkonia.

Languages of the Fabled Lands:

• Ma’agonian: The native language of Ma’ag.
• Qeshmetian: The native language of Qeshmet.
• Mavedian: The native language of Mavedia.

Specialized Languages:

• Abyssal: The language of demons.
• Infernal: The languages of devils.
• Celestial: The language of angels.
• Aquan: The language of water.
• Auran: The language of air.
• Ignan: The language of fire.
• Terran: The language of earth.
• Draconic: The language of dragons and magic.
• Sylvan: The language of woodland creatures.

Monstrous Languages of the Realms:

• Dwarven: The language of dwarves.
• Elven: The language of elves.
• Goblin Mouth: The language of goblins.
• Jotun: The language of giants.

Secret Languages of the Realms:

• Druidic (Druids Only): The secret language of druids.

Other languages:

• Other languages exist, as well, but they are either too obscure or too remote to list here.

Alignment
Any non-Evil.

Gear
Your character automatically starts play with anyone outfit worth less than 10 gold (that’s any of the outfits on page 159, except the courtier’s, the noble’s, or the royal). Please read the description of the outfit (on pages 161-162) and list exactly what the character is wearing.

Your character also gets a number of gold coins to spend on the gear, as listed on page 140. Roll or use the average (your choice).

Keep track of encumbrance, as described on page 169 and 171.

Also, go to page 405 and decide on a cost of living. Most characters should be “poor” at the start of the game. The only characters that should be “destitute” are those who can beg, steal, or live off the land. Normally, “average” (or better) means the character owns or rents a permanent home; but since the character is new to Umbrafall, any home she/he might possess is in another location (which is why most characters won’t start the game with an “average” or better cost of living; but you ARE allowed to, if you want).

Background
Include a brief description of why your character is in Umbrafall and why she/he wants to explore the ruins. Be sure it is something that will keep the character going back time and time again. If it’s something incredible or outlandish, check with me first.