Character Creation - for those who need it

[Rusty Tincanne]

I will try and get those that need it through this phase as quickly as possible. Hopefully a few steps each day.

Character  Creation  Summary
Step  One:  House  and  Lands Design House and Lands: Work with your fellow players tocreate a noble house.
Step  Two:  Character  Concept

• Pick or Roll Age: Youth, Adolescent, Young Adult, Adult, Middle Age, Old, Very Old, Venerable.
  Pick or Roll Status: Any from 1 to 6.
  Determine Role: Expert, Leader, Rogue, Schemer, Warrior Determine
  Background: Come up with at least one important event that shaped your life.
  Determine Goal: What does your character want?
  Determine Motivation: Why does your character want what he or she wants?
  Virtue: Name at least one virtue or quality about your character.
  Vice: Name at least one vice or character flaw your character has.

Step  Three:  Assign  Abilities

• Find Age to determine Starting Experience. Purchase Status first. Allocate all remaining Experience.

Step  Four:  Assign  Specialties Find Age to determine Starting Experience.

• Allocate Experience between Specialties.

Step  Five:  Destiny  Points  and  Benefits

• Find Age to determine starting Destiny Points. Invest Destiny Points into benefits up to the maximum allowed
  by Age.

Step  Six:  Drawbacks

• Find Age to determine required drawbacks. Select drawbacks that most closely match concept, specifically
  your vice.

Step  Seven:  Starting  Possessions Roll a Status test to determine starting coin.

• Spend at least half your starting coin on possessions.

Step  Eight:  Derived  Statistics

• Calculate Intrigue Defense: Awareness + Cunning + Status Calculate Composure: 3 × Will Calculate Combat Defense: Agility + Athletics + Awareness Calculate Health: 3 × Endurance
  Armor Rating (AR): Find your armor’s AR (TABLE 9–2: ARMOR on page 155), and note its effects on your character sheet. Calculate Weapon Damage: Fill in weapon statistics from
  TABLE 9–3: WEAPONS on pages 156-157.

Step  Nine:  Play  the  Game!

• Fill in any remaining entries on your character sheet (name, homeland, family name, and so on).
  Carve your name into history!

[Rusty Tincanne]

Step 1 - Determine House and Lands
Per max_vale's roll, we are in the Stormlands. From my calculations that makes Ormund Baratheon our overlord - or whatever they are called in Westeros. At any rate, he is in charge of the Stormlands. I will do the rolls for house creation Sunday or Monday evening unless someone else does it first.

Step 2 - Character Concept
Roll/Pick your Age

• Youth - 0-9yo - 120 ability exp - 40 specialty exp
  Adolescent - 10-13yo - 150 ability exp - 40 specialty exp
  Young Adult - 14-18yo - 180 ability exp - 60 specialty exp
  Adult - 18-30yo - 210 ability exp - 80 specialty exp
  Middle Age - 30-50yo - 240 ability exp - 100 specialty exp
  Old - 50-70yo - 270 ability exp - 160 specialty exp
  Very Old - 70-80yo - 330 ability exp - 200 specialty exp
  Venerable - 80+yo - 360 ability exp - 240 specialty exp

Roll/Pick Status Either roll a d6 to determine this, or just choose.
Examples

• 2 - house retainer, common hedge knight, free knight
  3 - sworn sword, guardsman, squire
  4 - ranking member of house, maester, junior septon, landed knight, noble bastard
  5 - banner lord, ward, courtier, septon, advisor
  6 - lord of the house, heir, lady, offspring

I chose mine based on being a retainer.

Determine Role

• Expert - An expert is a character who specializes in a narrow selection of abilities - maester, septons, blacksmiths, kennelmasters, instructors, scholars, heralds, etc. Key abilities: Whatever abilities reflect the expertise.
  Fighter - Key abilities: Agility, Animal Handling, Athletics, Endurance, Fighting, Marksmanship, and Warfare
  Leader - Key abilities: Cunning, Endurance, Fighting, Persuasion, Status, and Warfare
  Rogue - Key abilities: Agility, Awareness, Cunning, Fighting, Marksman- ship, Persuasion, Stealth, and Thievery
  Schemer - Key abilaities: Awareness, Cunning, Deception, Knowledge, Lan- guage, Persuasion, Status, and Will

Determine Background

• Come up with at least one important event that shaped your life, though the rules suggest one per age category. If you need it, I can supply a list you can roll from.

Determine Goal

• What does your character want?
  2 - enlightenment
  3 - mastery in an ability
  4 - fame
  5 - knowledge
  6 - love
  7 - power
  8 - security
  9 - revenge
  10 - wealth
  11 - justice
  12 - good

Determine Motivation

• 2 - charity
  3 - duty
  4 - fear
  5 - greed
  6 - love
  7 - hatred
  8 - lust
  9 - peace
  10 - stability
  11 - excellence
  12 - madness

Virtues

• 2 - charitable
  3 - chaste
  4 - courageous
  5 - devoted
  6 - honest
  7 - humble
  8 - just
  9 - magnamonious
  10 - merciful
  11 - pious
  12 - wise

Vices

• 2 - ambitious/grasping
  3 - arrogant
  4 - avaricious
  5 - couwardly
  6 - cruel
  7 - foolish
  8 - licentious
  9 - miserly
  10 - prejudiced
  11 - scheming
  12 - wrathful

Step 3 will be up tomorrow night, I hope.

[max_vale]

Thanks for this thread Rusty! Also, please check the house rules thread when creating the character….so no Youth, Very Old or Venerable characters…..no starting ability beyond level 5; etc.

I don't have much time on the weekends; but I am DEFINITELY willing to help with character creation as much as I can; so PM or post here any and all questions and I'll do my best to help out.

Also; if you're looking to get the hard-back version; I'd recommend going through the Green Ronin site; I did just that and got the book VERY quickly. I think the whole cost was around $45 for the book and shipping.

Anyway, I'm glad to see that you're still in Synthalus! jdluna; you're welcome to play any kind of character concept you want now that I know I'll have a Knight (which Synthalus wants to run).

-Max

[Rusty Tincanne]

You are welcome! Glad to help.

I have struck out the appropriate ages and will remind folks of the ability limits again when we get to that stage.

And now that I have done it once, I sort of want to create an entirely new character!

[max_vale]

Go ahead….I can run him as an NPC…plus it's nice to have a spare…you know in case something bad happens….which NEVER happens in Game of Thrones, right?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Step 3 - Assign Abilities
With a clear idea of your character in mind, you’re ready to improve your abilities. All characters begin with rank 2 in each ability. Using the starting Experience determined by your character’s age, you can improve an ability by purchasing additional ranks. The higher you improve an ability, the more Experience it costs. During this step, you must spend all Ability Experience, and you must purchase your Status rank first.

Remember to consult the recommended abilities for the role you chose. And remember: Starting Rank cannot exceed 5 (house rules) or 4 (if you are an adolescent)

Starting Ability Experience

• Adolescent - 150 ability exp
  Young Adult - 180 ability exp
  Adult - 210 ability exp
  Middle Age - 240 ability exp
  Old - 270 ability exp

Cost per Rank

• -1 - gain +50 exp (starting rank = 1)
  +1 - 10 exp (starting rank = 3)
  +2 - 40 exp (starting rank = 4)
  +3 - 70 exp (starting rank = 5)

What each Rank Means

• Rank 1 - Deficient. Routine tasks are a challenge for you, requiring a bit of effort to achieve the things an ordinary person would take for granted. Generally, an ability at this rank is the result of some other physical or mental deficiency.
  Rank 2 - Average. Most folks in Westeros have abilities at this range. Having rank 2 in an ability means you can handle routine tasks with ease and can manage most challenges, given enough time.
  Rank 3 - Talented. A cut above the common person, having rank 3 in an ability means you have a special knack and find tasks related to the ability to be far easier than other folks do.
  Rank 4 - Trained. You have trained extensively in the ability, combining your natural talents with extensive training. Your skill in this ability far ex- ceeds that of the average individual, and you can confidently tackle challenging tasks without trouble and, with a little luck, can pull off some amazing stunts.
  Rank 5 - Accomplished. Intensive training coupled with natural talent places you far above the common man. In fact, people with rank 5 are often the best at what they do in many areas, having surpassed their peers in their craft.
  Rank 6 - Master
  Rank 7 - Paragon
  Rank 8+ - Mythic

Abilities

• Agility - Measures dexterity, nimbleness, reflexes, and flexibility.
  Animal  Handling - The various skills and techniques used to train, work, and care for animals. Whenever you would regain control over a panicked mount, train a dog to serve as a guardian, or train ravens to carry messages, you test this ability.
  Athletics - The degree of training, the application of physical fitness, coordination, training, and raw muscle; determines how far you can jump, how fast you run, how quickly you move, and how strong you are.
  Awareness - Measures your senses, how quickly you can respond to changes in your environment, and your ability to see through double-talk and feints to arrive at the truth of the matter. Whenever you perceive your surroundings or assess another person, use Awareness.
  Cunning - Encapsulates intelligence, intellect, and the application of all your collected knowledge.
  Deception - Measures your gift at duplicity - your ability to lie and deceive. You use Deception to mask your intentions and hide your agenda. You also use Deception to pretend to be someone other than who you really are to affect a different accent or disguise yourself successfully.
  Endurance - Measures your physical well-being,your health and hardiness. Your Endurance determines how much punishment you can take, as well as how quickly you recover from injury.
  Fighting - Your ability to wield weapons in combat. Whenever you would attack unarmed or use a hand-held weapon, test Fighting.
  Healing - Represents skill with and understanding of the accumulated medical knowledge throughout the world. Rank in this ability reflects an understanding of health and recovery; the highest ranks represent talents held only by the greatest of maesters.
  Knowledge - Your general understanding and awareness of the world in which you live. It represents a broad spectrum, ranging from history, agriculture, economics, politics, and numerous other subjects.
  Language - The ability to communicate through speech or, among the best educated, through the written word. The starting rank you have in this ability applies to your knowledge of the Common Tongue spoken throughout Westeros. When you improve this ability, you may improve your ability with the Common Tongue or choose to speak other languages.
  Marksmanship - Your skill with ranged weapons, to use them appropriately and accurately in combat.
  Persuasion - The ability to manipulate the emotions and beliefs of others. With this ability, you can modify how others see you, shape their attitudes towards others, convince them of things they might not otherwise agree to, and more.
  Status - The circumstances of your birth and the knowledge those circumstances grant you. The higher your rank, the more likely you will be able to recognize heraldry, the better your reputation, and the stronger your knowledge of managing people and lands.
  Stealth - Your ability to creep about unseen and unheard. Whenever you would move without being noticed, you test Stealth.
  Survival - The ability to get by in the wild—hunting, foraging, avoiding getting lost, and following tracks.
  Thievery - A catchall ability for any skill involving larcenous activities. Examples include picking locks, hand tricks, and general robbery.
  Warfare - A character’s talents at managing the battlefield, ranging from the ability to issue commands and possessing strategic knowledge for maneuvering armies, to tactical knowledge for dealing with small engagements.
  Will - Your mental fortitude, reflecting the state of your mind’s health and endurance. It represents your ability to withstand fear in the face of appalling violence or supernatural phenomena and also serves as the foundation for your ability to resist being manipulated by others.

[max_vale]

As always Rusty; you are the MAN!

Thanks for this! Smoke, Jdluna, Synthalus....you guys have any questions about making characters?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Glad to help. I will wait to post more until at least one person has gone through the available steps. (It does take one time to copy/paste, edit and format, so I don't want to bother if it isn't useful.)

[jdluna]

I'm an OD&D guy so this is a little more involved than I'm accustomed to. I'd like to see a completed character sheet to get a feel for it.

[max_vale]

Look at the character thread with Rusty's guy.....you'll see the abilities (think of them as a combo of Attributes a la D&D and skills) with numbers next to them (default is 2...can go as high as 5, in rare circumstances might be 1).

When coming up with a character; let me know what your concept is and I can try translating that into what it would look like in game-form.

First things first....how old do you want your character to be?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Well I had uploaded the rules to Google Drive with the intent of sharing them, but my mac is old and two days later google drive is no longer supported by my not-lion-OSX computer and browser. So like max-vale said, check out my character because there is no way I can type in the pregen characters from the book.

The basics to know are that the older you are, the more Abilities and Specialties you can get - and you can specialize in areas you don't have increased Ability in. But you also get a drawback (or more if you want them). In all, the older characters get more starting benefits.
And the younger you are, the more Destiny Points* you get to spend. (So if you wanted to be a lucky warg with greensight, you would want to be young.)

Another thing to note that

• Intrigue Defense is a sum of: Awareness, Cunning, Status
  Composure is the product of "3x Will"
  Combat Defense is the sum of Agility, Athletics, Awareness
  Health is "3 × Endurance"

* Some of the Destiny-items require certain abilities/specialties to have been bought. For example, I dropped my warfare to 1 so I could purchase more Awareness and then get the Keen Senses destiny (pre-req was Awareness 4).


Don't know if you have played many systems where you get to choose the character you want to play (rather than roll dice), but I love them. I'd love to see this game move forward at some point... hint, hint. Smoke? Synth?