Setting Up Characters

In preparation for the Live Blog I wanted to introduce the cast of characters that will be adventuring in Edara tonight and talk a little bit more about the steps that went into creating them.

In Edara, where you have come from is just as important as where you are going. Therefore the first step in character creation is determining your Background. Does your character come from a rich or poor family? Did he grow up on the streets, all alone, or was raised in a tribe of families? Did he learn the skills of woodcutting from a young age, or was he trained in music and poetry? When creating your character is very important to integrate your back-story into the process. Not only does it enrich your role playing experience, it also gives you a springboard from which to create your character. The different Backgrounds offer a different number of points to spend, along with varying amounts of Currency to purchase your starting equipment.

The next steps are fairly traditional when it comes to creation a character in a tabletop game. You choose your Race, and determine all of the physical characteristics along with it. Eye and hair color, height, weight, and age all shape who your character is and will become. You then spend a number of Attribute Points (based on the Race you have chosen) to increase your Physical (Agility, Brawn), Mental (Wits, Brains), and Spirit (Vigor, Prowess) Attributes. But remember, you no attribute can ever exceed your Racial Maximum!

Once that is done, you can purchase Traits, Skills, and Proficiencies. All of these determine the physical and mental abilities of your character!

Edara uses a classless character creation system. What we have instead are a collection of Bands all grouped together by a color that represents one of Edara's main elements: Fire, Water, Nature, Light, and Shadow. Once you have picked a Band, you can then select abilities from those Band's Ability Trees.

Finally, you can complete your character by purchasing Equipment, Gadgets, and Gear. Once this has been done, you find yourself with a complete, ready to play character!

Using this process, our players created 5 characters to join in tonight's adventure

Grogg: A Human who comes from a Working Class, blue collar family. Grogg focuses on Duel Wielding and so he took the required proficiencies to dual wield and to use Long Swords. He chose to start moving down the Speed tree of the Red Band, because its Level 1 ability allows him a +1 to all attack rolls! His skill focus is on performing Acrobatic maneuvers and using his Brawn to his advantage.

Knuckuck has already reached the end of his life as a 145 year old Gnome. As a Lower Class citizen, Knuckuck has always felt more comfortable in dirty alleys and garbage piles, in which he both lives and searches for treasures. He has begun by moving down the Necromancy tree of the Black Band and put his Traits and Proficiencies into spell casting.

Malvicia: A young Human female who was born to a privileged Middle Class. She may not have learned much about surviving on the mean streets, but her parents money have helped her put together quite the collection of Magic Wands, each of which assists her in a different aspect of Auramancy. She has chosen the Bloodcraft tree of the Black Band, a dangerous ability tree which requires you to trade your own life to cast spells and heal your companions

Dalmero: As an Elvish Black Band Assassin who follow the Treachery tree, Dalmero had to climb out from his Lower Class beginning to gain the shadowy training required of his Assassin organization. He focuses all of his Attribute points on Agility and focuses on the Skills that help him be Stealthy. His low class background affords him only a few weapons, so he picks only those deadly enough to be called an Assassin's tools.

Ravenica: She also had to pull herself out of a lower class upbringing. Her family never had money but her street smarts help her excel when casting spells from the Spellcraft tree of the Blue Band. The few skills that she has managed to learn involve magical potions and enchantments. She didn't start with much, but all she needs is a robe and a wand to start down the path of Auramancy.