Character Creation and Advancement
What you need
Great! You made it. Time to take the character from your imagination and put it to paper! A few things you may need first.
- Dice! You need to get a d20 Dice set. Here is a URL to help get you started Google Search for "d20 Dice Set"
- A Character Sheet. We have one for free here!
Ability Scores
| Score | Points |
|---|---|
| 7 | –4 |
| 8 | –2 |
| 9 | –1 |
| 10 | 0 |
| 11 | 1 |
| 12 | 2 |
| 13 | 3 |
| 14 | 5 |
| 15 | 7 |
| 16 | 10 |
| 17 | 13 |
| 18 | 17 |
The next step is the foundation of your Hero. There ability scores. These scores are explained in more detail here. They are a suppose to sum up a Characters generic abilities ranging from Strength too Charisma. They are also used to to decide a wide variety of details and stats for your all your characters future interactions.
The below is a description of how to get your Ability Scores filled out on your Character Sheet. However ultimately the GM can decide how Characters choose ability scores. So the below section is more for the GM to read then a player. If want to be the GM or just want to roll up some Character sheets for fun then by all means read ahead.
There is two primary ways to decide Ability Scores. But of course table top games and the d20 system has been around for a while and so naturally over time there has been lot of additional rules added. In gaming the GM may want to create a "High Fantasy" or "Low Fantasy" like setting. "High Fantasy" simply means the stats are on average going to be higher. Big epic battles with Characters that are well above the cut. Where as "Low Fantasy" you may have a less powerful character that is closer to the average Joe, although some may argue that having a lower fantasy hero have to overcome greater odds is even more epic. It all depends on the style the GM and Players want to play.
The two different systems below accommodate for both "Low" and "High" fantasy play styles. They are just different ways of pretty much doing the same thing.
- Dice roll. Like all things table top dice roll decides all. In this case 4d6 (4 six sided dice). For each Ability score roll 4d6 and remove the dice with the smallest number. Add up the remaining 3 dice. Do this 6 times. One time for each ability. There are a few different additional rules that GMs may have for there game.
- You can roll for each Ability one after another starting with Strength and ending with Charisma. Or you may record the totals on a sheet of paper. And then take the totals and apply them where you feel they will be needed the most.
- The GM may want players to re-roll totals that are too low. Or perhaps totals that are too high.
- The GM may also offer to have the player roll the 4d6 7 total times and remove the lowest total.
- Point Buy. This system is similar to a lot of RPGs in computer games. The Player spends points given to them at level one to buy ability points. The Player automatically starts out with 10 which is considered "average" or "normal" level for that ability.
- The amount of points given to the player to spend can change depending if the GM wants to play in a "Low","Standard","High","Epic" level of Fantasy/Sci-Fi. There is a table to the right detailing the ability points per fantasy type.
- You can have players start out at 9 or 8 instead of 10. The ability score isn't just a score that provides modifiers when rolling. It also is suppose to represent rolling playing aspects of a character. Perhaps your character isn't that Strong or Charismatic. Force characters to start lower and pay more for advancing may help them to think about not only the strong parts but also the weaknesses of a character.
| Campaign Type | Points |
|---|---|
| Low Fantasy | 10 |
| Standard Fantasy | 15 |
| High Fantasy | 20 |
| Epic Fantasy | 25 |
Both "Dice roll" and "Point Buy" have there advantages and disadvantages. Although this is more information then what a starting out player needs to know. This is more for a GM who is likely to request one over the other. Some people do not like the point buy because it is likely that characters will all look to much alike. If you are a Strong/Soldier Hero you know exactly where to spend your points for the most optimal build for that class and it is likely that all of Strong/Soldiers will look the same. On one hand this gives the Player the most control of there character and can avoid Players that may "Power Roll" super high scores. But on the other hand this removes a certain amount of individuality by creating a more "cookie cutter" character. The Dice Roll method puts a certain amount of chance into the creation of the Character. Sometimes working around unexpected bad ability scores can be interesting/fun and bring a challenging different aspect to roll playing.
In the end its up for the GM to deiced. "Dice Roll" or "Point Buy".
Once you roll or buy up your ability scores you will want to record them on your Character Sheet. Your ability score may also be modified by Species you pick. You pick a species in the next section. But don't forget to add any ability score bonuses that a species may provide. And then once you figure out what your total score is you may want to record what your modifier is. Below is a table with the modifiers per ability score.
| Ability Score | Modifier |
|---|---|
| 1 | –5 |
| 2–3 | –4 |
| 4–5 | –3 |
| 6–7 | –2 |
| 8–9 | –1 |
| 10–11 | 0 |
| 12–13 | 1 |
| 14–15 | 2 |
| 16–17 | 3 |
| 18–19 | 4 |
| 20–21 | 5 |
| 22–23 | 6 |
| 24–25 | 7 |
Choose A Species
At the moment we do not have a list of playable species. We are working on that. For the time being we will just use humans. And because we are still working out all the specie rules lest have them not make any changes.
Choose A Base Class
Base Classes are in the Future Hero Base Class section. You can review your choices there. Base class represents a Characters starting point. Nobody starts out instantly a Soldier, Dogfighter or Diplomat. It takes time to perfect ones abilities and understand your strength and weaknesses. Your Base class is your foundation and each one represents a Characters strong suits and what that character best attribute is.
The choices in summary are as follows:
Picking a Base path helps define your Character's path and direction. However this isn't a restriction. It just means it may be easy to go in a direction that focuses on Strength if you play as the Strength base class, however its not a requirement.
Editing Character Sheet: Near the top right of the Character sheet is couple of different sections for writing down things such as Character and Player Name. There is also a section Titled: "Character Classes and Levels". Here you will put what Path you take and your level in it. For example: "Path of Strength - Lvl1"
Editing Character Sheet (HP): The Base class informs the character a lot about how a Character is to advance including there "Hit Die". This defines how much HP a character gets per level. A Hit Die of d8 means you roll a d8 to determine your HP. A level one you take your maximum which means you just take whatever your highest possible number from the roll is. For a d8 that is 8, for a d6 its 6 and so on. However a character does get a modifier for there HP. And that is the Characters Constitution modifier. A Character gets to add the CON modifier to the Hit Die for your total HP. You can now take your Base Classes Hit Die's maximum and add the CON modifier to get the your Character's total HP at level one and then record that to the right of the black "HP" square where it says "Total".
Advance Classes
Advance Classes are a more specialized Class that better defines your Character. Think of it almost like a career choice. It adds more specific Talents and special abilities too your character. However Advance Classes have requirements that usually are not met until your Character is also at level 3 or 4. Also some Advance Classes are easier to get to then others depending on the Base Class/Path you took.
You can read up more on choosing an Advance Class below in the Character Advancement section.