Character Creation
The first thing to consider is that not everyone started life as that epic-level hero who can do everything and anything all by themselves; in-fact it is safe to say that most were born to a family, grew up as a child, were raised into adolescence, and eventually became an adult. Life as an adult probably wasn’t easy either, and unfolded in ways they didn’t expect. Many an adventurer will find themselves not far from where they grew up, and quite a few will have met challenges requiring specific skills to overcome.

As you begin to create your character, consider what kind of family your character was born into, how they were raised, and what experiences they might have had that ultimately shaped them into what they have become today.

Look to your Storyteller to set the tone for the world and create a setting you can then run with. Was your character the child of a peasant farmer and grew up helping your parents and twelve siblings on the family farm? Was your character orphaned as a babe and left on the doorstep of a monastery? Did your character grow up in the lap of luxury?

Did your character take over the family farm or start their own? Did your character join the militia, or military, or become a guard for their local village or city? Did they have access to academia or were they raised on stories handed down from generation to generation? Did they excel at pottery or sell pickles for a living? Did they study under the local blacksmith?

Depending on the setting your Storyteller has chosen to use for your campaign, perhaps not all of these questions need be answered but they should all nonetheless be considered. These questions will help you align what your character’s motivations and perhaps even fears are and why they might feel that way.

An overview of character creation:

1. Choose your character’s race.
2. Choose your character’s sex, age and other distinguishing features.
3. Generate and assign your character’s attributes, and apply any racial modifiers.
4. Calculate their starting Health, Stamina and Faith pools.
5. Roll for their Phobias or have phobias chosen for them!

6. Assign Skill Points!
……a. Assign skill points to Character Qualities.
……b. Assign skill points to General Skills.
……c. Assign skill points to the Combat Defense skill in Defensive Skills.
……d. Choose at-least one Weapon Skill, recording that in Offensive Skills.
……e. Choose a Weapon Form skill for the weapon, recording that in Offensive Skills.
……f. Does your character wear armor? Record their Armor in Defensive Skills.
……g. Does your character wield a shield? Record their Shield in Defensive Skills.
……h. Assign and record Constructor, Knowledge, and Custom Skills.
……i. Consider and record Combat Tactics and document any Flourishes.

7. Add skill levels assigned to Character Qualities to your character’s Health pool.
8. Decide on gear and inventory and record your starting currency.

You’ve done it! You now have a functional character with which to play.

Consider the following optional character and party development options that can help you further define your character.

9. Consider what keeps your character awake at night. What is their primary drive?
10. Write a character summary and give your character a past.
11. Envision and write down a physical description.