Character Creation (Existence Supplement)
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Ability Scores
A character’s ability scores are determined using a 25 point buy. As is normal, a character may not have a stat above 18 or below 8 prior to racial modifiers.
House Rules
All characters may start with two traits, but they must fall into different categories. All characters start with one additional feat, which must be applicable to the character’s background story. All characters start with an additional 2 Skill Points that must be applicable to the character’s background story. A character may choose a single Skill to count as a Class Skill for free, so long as this is applicable to the character’s background story. A Skill chosen that is already a Class Skill receives a +2 bonus instead. Intimidate can use either Charisma or Strength, whichever is higher. Survival uses either Intelligence or Wisdom, whichever is higher. Characters start with their maximum hit points for their class + ½ (rounded down) their constitution score at the first level. This is instead of maximum hit points for class plus constitution modifier. Hit points gained at each level are rolled as normal, though a character may always take the average roll (rounded up) instead of rolling.
Languages
There are no common languages. See the Language section for more information. During character creation, all characters start knowing Common(Their Nation), Race (Their Nation) if applicable due to not being a human, and Common (game start). The game start language is simply given by the DM so that all the players will share a single language between them and know the language in the area where the campaign starts. A player whose character comes from that nation and already speaks the language may choose any language they desire.
Nation
A player must choose which nation their character is from and is loyal to. Unless otherwise discussed with the DM, a character should be loyal to the nation they are from. The choice of nation affects both their Race and Character Class choices, and will have a lasting impact on their character for the duration of the entire campaign.
Race
A player may play as any race in the PHB and ARG, regardless of where they come from. If a race is chosen from a nation in which the race is extraordinarily rare or typically enslaved, the background story should bring into great detail why this character is from that nation, and most importantly why they are loyal to that nation. The DM must also approve this choice, and unless otherwise discussed, a player should limit their race choice to match their nation.
Character Class
A player may play any class regardless of the nation they choose. What is different in this world is how a favored class works. When the player selects a favored class (or classes), their nation has a direct impact upon the advances gained when leveling up. A common character class gains an additional hit point or skill rank every even level gained. This means that they gain 1,2,1,2… for their career. A rare character class gains half a hit point or skill rank every level gained. This means that they gain 0,1,0,1… for their career. Thus a single level dip into a rare character class gains no bonus hit points or skill rank just as if the class was not a favored class A non listed class gains an additional hit point or skill rank as normal for a favored class
Alignment
Alignment should be carefully chosen due to the complexity of the world the players will find themselves. Alignment must also take into account the nation from which a player is originates, since it will give a different perspective. For example, a Lawful Good character from Urganto has no issue with slavery of criminals, enemies of the state, or lower class races, while a Lawful Good character from Bissel has issues with slavery of any kind. In general, Evil alignments should be rarely chosen, and only after heavy consideration and DM approval. The ability for a party to get along is of utmost importance within the game - for without this unity, players will not have fun. A well-played evil character is acceptable, but one that is constantly causing problems within a party, evil or not, should not be allowed.
Religion
For character classes in which they must choose a deity to worship, and domains, there are different ways this can occur. The first is the traditional way, a character chooses a god, and chooses amongst their domains as normal. Another option is to choose a pantheon itself to serve. Here a character can choose any two domains that are found within the pantheon, but for this to happen, the character must have DM approval. In addition, both domains are considered “out of god” domains. See below for more information. For the third option, a character can choose a god as normal, select one of their domains, and then select any other domain found within their pantheon. When this happens, the second domain is considered to be an “out of god” domain. With the designs of the pantheons and the limited number of domains per god, this is a common way for most religious based characters to go.
Each pantheon has a favored weapon, which is different from the traditional Pathfinder setting where individual gods have a favored weapon. This is because of the unity of the pantheons, and to allow characters more flexibility when choosing their faith and gods to worship.
Out of God
An out of god domain is just as the name implies, a domain that the worshipped god does not have. When this occurs, there are limitations on when the domain’s abilities kick in. Where all domains have two abilities granted, typically a first level and sixth to eighth level, an out of god domain causes these to be received at a later level. A delayed ability occurs one level later for the lower level ability, and two levels later for the higher level ability, though domain spells granted are unaffected. Granted powers, such as a 10 foot speed increase on the domain of travel, still come instantly upon choosing the domain. As an example to this, we take a Cleric of Juno character. The Cleric of Juno chooses the domains Healing and Travel as his domain choices. Since Healing is a domain under Juno, it is treated as normal, but the Travel domain is only found under Mercury so this is an “out of god” domain. The Cleric will still increase his base speed by ten, but will not gain Agile Feet until he is level 2. When he reaches level 10 he will gain Dimensional Hop, instead of at level 8 as normal. His domain spells for both Healing and Travel are unchanged with level requirements, so he still gains longstrider at 1st, locate object at 2nd, and so on.
Back Story
A back story is vital to all characters, and should be heavily considered before much time is invested into the actual creation of the character. The back story should be detailed enough that a feat, two additional skills, and an additional class skill worth being derived from it. To detailed can cause a character to be unable to grow, but not detailed enough leaves the character simple numbers on a paper.
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