Creating a Character

As a Defiant, you will be creating a character that you will use over the course of your game. This character will be the medium that you will use to interact with the story and world created by the Fates.

To create a character you will be going through the following steps:

Get and Set Expectations

Before you start any work on your character, we recommend you talk to your Fates and ask them some questions about the game that you are going to play. If you are playing in a grimdark setting, a cheerful fairy might not be a good combination. If the game will focus on adventures within a city, electing to play a forest ranger might make yourself feel useless. Use this moment to retrieve as much information that the Fates and maybe even other Defiants can give you. This information will be a guide for you in the next steps.

Some useful questions for you to ask are:

• What kind of world are you playing in? (High Fantasy, Grimdark, Magitech etc.)
• What will be the most common enemies you will be going against?
• What kind of locations will you be spending most of your time in?
• Are there any restriction to character creation?
• Are there any elements the Fates wish to include in your backstory?

Character Concept

The first step when creating a character you will need to decide on a character concept. Trying to immediately produce a detailed character instantly will be difficult. Instead, you can start by deciding on a concept or an idea first. Here are some ways you can create a character concept from:

Stereotypes

In pop culture, many characters even from different franchises may sometimes have common characteristics. This is called a stereotype. You may have heard about some of them: the Paragon, the Damsel in Distress, the Anti-Hero, the Comedic Relief or even the Horny Bard.

This can serve as a good foundation to create a character. From there, you can choose whether you want to subvert the stereotype or lean into it. Then, decide on why they are what they are. For example, we can create a Paragon character named Rudy. He is a beacon of good and inspires all the people around him.

If I choose to lean in, I can add the fact he does good because he has been on the other side of a bad action and feeling hopeless in a cruel world. To prevent anyone else from feeling that way, he decided to do all he can to be a beacon of hope to everyone. Alternatively, I can subvert the stereotype and say that Rudy does all the good he does because he has seen what the hell looks like. He does good because he is desperate to avoid the fires of hell and takes great care to ensure his action does the most good.

Mechanics

Instead of a specific type of character, some people like to create character based on something that they can do. They focus on mechanics like wanting to play as a master of sword and shield, or a person that can transform into a monster in combat.

This serve as a foundational mechanic and you can build a character around it. For example, a sword and shield character would be a knight errant, travelling the world to find a cure for his master. Alternatively, the "sword" could be a kitchen knife and the "shield" could be a wok. The character is a travelling cook wanting to hunt the best of meats!

Themes

Another way to create a character is to first determine a theme that you would like to explore. By exploring the theme, you can figure out what role and personality could fit in the theme. Themes like "What it means to be a hero" or "The Price of Peace" could all be themes that can work if you are making a character this way.

For example, let's explore the theme of "Greed consumes all". From there we can perhaps make a failed merchant in a quest to look for the next money making scheme. Instead of weapons, he only uses spells because it does not require any weapons thus no money spent on maintenance. Then, over the course of the game, we can place him in situations where he must decide between his party members or gold.

Fleshing out the Character

Once you have a character concept, you can now flesh out the character with additional detail that can help you play out the character. The following are some list of questions you can ask yourself about the character to flesh them out.

• Goals
  • What is your character's long term goal?
  • What is the next step that the character needs to do to move towards that long term goal?
  • What is a personal reason why your character wants to achieve that goal?
• Appearance
  • Hair Style & Color
  • Eye Color
  • Build (Bulky, slender, skinny etc)
  • Stature (Confident, meek, alluring etc)
  • Clothing Style & Colors
  • Weapons & Tools
• Personality
  • What is their usual emotion and demeanor?
  • Do they have an accent and/or a specific cadence (fast talking, stutters, slow pauses etc)?
  • *What is their favorite stuffs? (Consider food, drink, hobby, weather etc)
  • *What are somethings they hate or outright fear?
  • Do they have daily ritual or a habit?
• Backstory
  • Is there anyone that is important to them (both good and bad reasons)?
  • Do they have a trinket from their backstory?
  • *Is there something in your story that is unresolved or is a mystery?
  • *Where do you imagine your character ending up by the end of the game? (This may not be where they actually end up)

* These items are useful for the Fates to know for a longer game like a Campaign or Epic.

Starting Levels

For Home Defiant, we recommend you start the campaign at Level 6. At this level, your character will have had some achievement to their name but they are nowhere near a professional adventurer. You will start with some Skills that will help your journey and you have enough Wear capacity to take some hits before going down. Starting here is equivalent to starting at Level 3 in D&D 5e.

Alternative Starting Levels

Instead of Level 6, you can also start at the beginning of each tier for different power levels. The following are suggested starting levels for different feeling for the game.

Experienced Characters

If your character is an older or more experienced person, they may have endured experience that has harmed them in some way and thought them a valuable lesson. When this happens, The Fates may allow you to take one general Anti-Skill in exchange for a General Skill.

Choosing Race and Classes

After deciding on a starting level, you will need to decide your Race. Once selecting a Race, you will be locked into its progression for the rest of the game.

After deciding on your Race, you will gain a Trait associated with the Race. You can only have one Trait at a time. Should you gain a different Trait usually due to Evolution, you will lose the Trait associated with the old Race.

Levelling Up

Now, you can now decide to invest the Levels you already have. If you chose to start at level 6, you can invest those levels into your Class and Race in any combination. Invest levels in a class will usually do some of the following things:

• Increase Maximum Wear. You will be able to take more Wear as you level up.
• Increase Attributes. You will be able to increase some of your Attributes. Race classes will usually increase your Talent Attributes while Class will usually increase your Trained or Technical attributes.
• Gain Skills. You will gain a Skill that can be used to perform actions outside the norm.

Jot Down Important Statistics

After levelling up your character to the selected starting level, you will need to note down important information that you will be using repeatedly.

Skills & Trait

When you invest levels into your character, you will gain some Skills and a Trait. Note these down for easy reference during play, especially Active Skills: Skills that need to be activated on your turn.

Also note down any Martial Arts, Spells, Rest Activity and Blueprints that you may gain when you invest in a class.

Common Rolls

There are common rolls that you will use in this game. Jot these down in the common rolls section for your easy reference:

• Combat Checks. These are the dice you will be rolling during combat:
  Weapon Attack = Might/Dexterity/Focus + Martial
  Magic Attack = Might/Dexterity/Focus + Martial
  Dodge = Dexterity + Wilderness
  Initiative = Focus + Martial
• Social Checks. These are common rolls you will be making during social situations.
  Persuasion = Presence + Society
  Deception = Presence + Intrigue
  Insight = Focus + Society
• Exploration Checks. These are commons rolls you will make during exploration.
  Perception = Focus + Intrigue
  Deduction = Intellect + Intrigue
  Stealth = Dexterity + Intrigue
  Athletics = Might + Wilderness
  Balance = Dexterity + Wilderness

Resources

Note down in the relevant spaces, how much resources you have based on your statistics. Here are the summary for each Resource:

• Poise
  Poise always starts at 0. However, you should the total Poise generated from Passive Skills at the start of your turn.
• Potential
  Max Potential = Vigor + Highest Trained Attribute + Half of Presence (rounded down).
  At the start of a game, set your Potential to equal your Max Potential.
• Wear
  Max Wear = Total Levels + (2 x Might attribute) + Presence attribute + Racial Bonus + Class Bonus
  At the start of a game, your Wear should be 0.
• Wounds
  Max Wounds = Might + Vigor + Presence
  You will need to mark valid Wound rows to equal to the number above. At the start of the game, all Wound fields should be empty.
• Scars
  You should not have any Scars at the start of the game. If you are starting your game at a higher tier, you can start with a number of Scars equal to your Starting Tier.
• Experience
  Starting Experience = 1 + 2 + ... + N where N is your starting level.
  Next Experience Threshold = 1 + 2 + ... + N where N is the next level.

Sizes

For most starting Races, your Size will be 1. Refer to your Racial Trait or Skills gained that may change this.

Senses

Senses are how you perceive the world around you. Unless specified, your Senses would be the following:

• 100/1000 Light
• 5/30 Sound
• 2/10 Odor
• 0/2 Vibration

Some Skills or Trait modify the values above. Check the Skills & Traits you gained for more information.

Other Statistics

Some other information that you may want to note down:

• Heavy 0 Throwing Range

Select Starting Equiment

You start you adventure with certain starting equiment in addition to any starting trinkets provided by your backstory. Select one of the following options to be your starting Equipement.