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.
Editing Character Sheet (Ability Scores): You only will want to read the sections below for different choices and more details on setting up your ability scores. The short summary is roll 4d6 (four six sided die) remove the lowest roll and add the other 3. Do this 6 times still you have 6 total scores. The numbers will range from 3 - 18. Reroll the dice for any total below 5. The Ability Scores section of the Character sheet is on the first page near the top just below the "Future Path" title. It is a vertical column starting with STR and ending with CHA. Each Ability has a SCORE/Modifier/TEMP SCORE/TEMP Modifier. We will only need to file out the SCORE for now.
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.
Editing Character Sheet (Ability Modifier): Below is a list of what a Ability Score's modifier is. The math for this is also: "(ability/2) -5 [round result down]". Normally we wait to fill this out until you have picked your Species which is the next step. The reason for this is to avoid having to erase and rewrite the 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 (Path): 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.
Allocate Skill Ranks
Skill rules can be exampled in the Skills Basics page and the skill list can be found on the Skills page.
On the Future Hero Base Class page each Base Class has a list of skills. These are your class skills. They will never change from level 1 onward. However you may add ranks into these skills the fact that they are your starting out class skills will not change.
Editing Character Sheet (Class Skills Box): Too the right of the first page of the Character Sheet there is the Skills list. Notable the largest section of the sheet. The Skills list has multi columns starting with two check boxes and then the Skill Name, Total Bonus, Ability Mod, Rank, Misc Mod. At this point we care only for the first square check box. You can check these off as your class skills.
Once you have identified what your Class Skills are you can spend your first set of points. Again in your Base class you picked it tells you how many skill points you get to spend on each level. This is under the "Skill Points" section just before the Class table. To summarize spending points: To add a rank in a class skill you spend 1 point. To add a rank in a non-class skill you spend two points. In order to add ranks in any skill you first need to "unlock" it which requires spending two additional points. You can not have more ranks in a skill then you have in player levels with the exception of Language Skills and Tech skill.
Editing Character Sheet (Skill Ranks): Skill points are based on what your Characters Base Class plus there INT modifier. So Path of Strength Hero that has a 12 in INT would get 4 skill points to spend. You simple add a rank to whatever skill you desire following the correct rules for spending points which you can read up on the Skills Basics page. Do not forget that you get a bonus 3 to any Class Skill you have at least one rank in signifying your predetermined affinity with those skills. Normally the best place to put this skill is in the "Misc" column as it is not actually a rank. You may also want to note that the second column square check box is to signify unlocked skills and that all Class skills are unlocked by default.