Getting Started

Character creation can seem daunting, however if you'll take it in steps I promise it isn't. There are several things to consider, but honestly it just comes down to what you want to play. I would suggest to help make this decision easier each of the classes will have a short introductory paragraph at the beginning of each section dedicated to that class, as well as for each species and background. So, reading through all of these will be useful in helping you decide what you want to play.

First, you should choose a Species. Each one has its own unique role-play, as well as qualities and benefits.

Second, you will need to choose a background which will add its own benefits, skills, and abilities. Whether you choose one to further the specialization of the class you wish to play or choose one to broaden your character’s abilities, the decision is yours.

Third, you choose a class. I’ll take a moment here to reiterate the importance of reading through the summaries before each class. Don't just resign yourself to doing what you have always done, maybe in other LARPs or in TTRPGs. Read through and see what possibilities are out there. There are plenty.

Starting statistics:

• 50 Skill Points (SP)
• 1 Power
• Read/Write Common
• 1 Rank of Knowledge Area (your species)
• 5 Silver Pieces
• 1 Recipe for each Rank of a Purchased Production skill
• Up to two weapon tags for weapons you are proficient with
• 1 tag for a suit of armor up to your classes maximum rating (judged by the Phys-rep you have)
• Selected memorized spells equal to level +1 for main school purchased
• Selected memorized spells equal to level for a secondary school if the second school was purchased

SKILL POINTS:

Now you get to spend them!

The 50 SP you receive will be used to purchase skills chosen from your class's basic skill chart and/or the Everyman basic skills chart. These points may also be used to purchase species abilities for your chosen Species, if applicable. Now I hear you, "why only basic skills?" The reason is simple; Advanced skills MUST be learned from an Instructor during game play or between games. Despair not fair adventurer! There is a Power (remember you start with one), Mentor, which fulfills the requirement of an instructor for one Advanced skill at character creation, as well as several other uses once you've entered game.

Also, it may not be outside the realm of possibility for an adequately written character history to make a sufficient excuse for the presence of a purchased advanced skill to be present on a brand new characters sheet. I'll provide more details later in this section.

POWERS:

Power selection can seem a little intimidating at first, but remember you get to select a new one every four levels and get a species Power slot at every tenth level. Also, you may also purchase species Powers with regular slots in the event you want a species power before reaching tenth level, so long as you meet the prerequisites. If the species you chose doesn’t have species powers, then this functions as a regular power.

CHARACTER HISTORIES: I feel like I should specifically state that writing a Character History doesn't have to be a massive undertaking just a couple of pages explaining where your character comes from what their early life was like coupled with wants and desires and even dislikes and hatreds if any. Even in the presence of a Pulitzer prize quality character history it doesn't guarantee it will receive the one classification that really matters for our purposes here, that is "approved by Plot". Your character history is not a part of the game world or would be "Live" until it is approved by the Plot Team, this mechanic exists for several reasons, mostly its to screen character histories for continuity within the game world and make sure they will fit and mesh well with the planned/existing stories. The Second reason we have to check and approve all character histories I really wish didn't exist but it does so here we go, its to check and screen out character histories that grant the character "Super Powers" whether its the fact they were born as the only worlds naturally occurring Master of the Arcane who happens to be a Champion, Or they are the Emperors long lost kidnapped baby grown into an adventurer. Both of the previous examples are not going to survive the process of going through the Plot Team for what I earnestly hope are obvious reasons. I would suggest that if you have a character history in mind that you want to play submit your character history early. Preferably before you invest a large amount of IRL money or effort into costuming and props for said character. We will try to work with you on Character histories that are close but just miss the mark but will almost assuredly kick those that grant "super powers".

(To elaborate on this a bit:

Good character histories tell plot who your character is. Things they like, things they hate, things they want and things they never want to see again. We can take some guesses given a background, class, and species but it's a very broad target with a very small bull's eye. The worlds cover all of the routine origin locations you'd expect and you don't need the details for that - if you can get as far as 'from the city' or 'grew up in the woods', that's plenty and we can help you take it from there.

Superpowers present a secondary problem besides (usually) rules problems. Tabletop games can accommodate the volume of attention such characters expect. Larps can't - we have dozens of players and can't run every event centering the last son of a desert ninja and the god empress of Awesomeworld. We can and will make every effort to get everyone involved, but rolling in with Aaravos demands that everyone else becomes a sort of NPC in a game that revolves around him. We can't do that. People leave games where they feel like their own characters are NPCs here to tell someone else's story.

Everyone wants cool characters and there's nothing wrong with that. You just can't conflate cool with powerful or unique. We can't tell you what you think is cool, but if you're really stuck for a starting point, reach out and we'll see what we can do. It might also be worth holding off on a character history until you've met the other players and have a good feel for what they do and why; most of the vets can tell you (at sometimes unbearable length) all about their characters and are eager to have new people to tell those stories to.

Finally, it's entirely possible that you don't feel like you have enough information to make good decisions or even ask intelligent questions. That's okay too - we'd rather have a good idea late than Rand al'Thor early. Don't worry about falling behind the vets that knew exactly what they wanted before the rules were even available. Soak in as much as you need to, ask around, and think it through. It's worth the extra effort.

-T)