Character Creation

In order to venture forth into the world of Vaerün the first thing you have to do is create your character. Think about the primary way you want your character to interact with the world around you, and then create them based on that

The Basics

The following applies to all characters regardless of further choices.

All players are proficient with daggers, staves, and light armor. (see the weapons and armor section for more information)

All players have 1 hit point (or hp) on each strike area (2 arms, torso, and 2 legs) and 2 Essence points. Different talents can modify these statistics.

Hit points represent the number of hits you can take. If you lose all hit points on your torso, or if you lose all your hit points in two of your limbs, you fall unconscious.

Essence points represent how many times you can be knocked unconscious before your character dies and you lose one essence point every time you're reduced to zero hit points (See Combat and Death).

All players may also choose three talents to customize their character and their abilities.

Talents

Who do you want to be?

Talents are what give your character additional hit points, essence points, abilities, and access to magic and each character can choose up to three. There are four talent trees that you can choose talents from including Martial, Magic, Skullduggery and Trades, as well as several hybrid bonus talents that require you to take talents from different tress.

You can mix and match talents from those trees to build your character however you wish. The further into each talent tree you go the more specialized your character becomes. The exception to this is the Trades tree. Each talent in that Tree represents a stand alone talent that let's you craft specific components.

Below the Talent Tree sections are sections covering non-Trade abilities, as well as descriptions of weapons and armor that your character may become proficient with depending on what talents are chosen.

The Martial Talent Tree

The Martial tree consists of talents that will allow you to become a seasoned combatant giving you increasingly greater access to weapons and armor as you progress, culminating in the option of several talents to become the type of warrior you were destined to be. Those that delve into the Martial talent tree are the front line in protecting their faction and allies.

Recruit- Taking the Recruit talent means you have some skill and/or experience with the implements of war. Maybe you were trained as part of your village militia, maybe you squired for a knight of your kingdom, perhaps you’re a self taught sellsword just starting out.

You gain proficiency with all one handed weapons, bucklers/small shields (less than 30” diameter), as well as Medium armor and ranged weapons, you gain 1 hit point to all strike areas

Warrior (requires Recruit)- Taking the Warrior talent means you’re a battle tested soldier, a scarred but seasoned mercenary, a bodyguard for a noble. Whatever your background you’ve proven yourself time and again in the heat of battle

You gain 1 essence point, are proficient with two handed weapons, all shields, and heavy armor

Berserker (Requires Warrior)- Taking the Berserker talent means you tend to eschew heavy armors and honestly might have some rage issues, but your expedition leader is probably okay with it as long as you keep hacking through enemy shields.

You gain 1 essence point and can use Shield Crush called ability twice a day. As long as you’re wearing no more than 1 layer of light armor, you also gain 3 hit points.

Champion- (Requires Warrior) – Taking the Champion talent means that you’re the warrior everyone turns to when things seem most dire. Your presence alone can inspire your allies to greatness when all seems lost

You gain 1 essence point and you gain the Heroic Charge called ability

Diehard- (Requires Warrior) – Taking the Diehard talent means you’ve survived, though not necessarily unscathed, more battles than a new recruit could even fathom. Your toughness and grit are second to none.

You gain the Hard to Kill passive ability.

The Skullduggery Talent Tree

The Skullduggery tree consists of talents that will allow you to become a ghost among the crowd, charting your progress from simple thief to the sort of character that children hear about in scary stories. Once you’ve progressed to the end of this talent tree you’ll have to choose just what kind of dastardly deeds you want to specialize in. Those that advance in the Skullduggery tree, know there’s more surreptitious ways to meet your factions goals.

Cutpurse- Taking the Cutpurse talent means you’ve learned the basics of the criminal world. Perhaps you were an orphaned youth, a waif on the street, or maybe you’re from a noble family but just happen to have a rebellious streak. However you developed your skills, you’ve started your path down a road outside of the law.

You gain the Lockpick ability and the ability to use ranged weapons

Brigand- (Requires Cutpurse) Taking the Brigand talent means stealing coin pouches and running simple scams was just the start. Making it in the criminal underworld means you’ve got to be tough, and oftentimes ruthless. Whether you’ve moved your way up a criminal organization, or hard times have hit and you’ve taken to being a highwayman, you’re more dangerous than ever before.

You gain 1 hp, the ability to use medium armor, one handed swords, and can loot resources from unconscious players.

Assassin- (Requires Brigand) Taking the Assassin talent means you’ve learned to stalk your target through the streets like a predator hunting prey. There’s a lot of people out there who want people dead, and they’re willing to pay good money to have it done. Lucky for them you’re the person for the job.

You gain the Assassinate called ability

Tomb Robber- (Requires Brigand) Taking the Blackguard talent means you’ve spent the majority of your time crawling through crypts and the other arcane forgotten places in the world, maybe it was a chance encounter with some artifact that instilled some forbidden knowledge, or maybe you sought out a less scrupulous mage as a tutor, whatever your path was, you can now utilize spell scrolls

You gain 1 essence point and you gain the ability to use Spell Scrolls

The Magic Talent Tree

The Magic Tree consists of talents that allow the user to utilize the magic that is inherently present in the world and mold it into different spells. As a player devotes more and more of their talent points into this tree they unlock greater and greater knowledge of the arcane and access to more powerful spells eventually specializing in a specific type of magic. See the Magic page for a list of spells and more information.

Initiate- Whether you’ve trained in a mages college, or you’ve been taken under the wing of a local hedge mage, you’ve proven that you have a sharp mind and willingness to dip your toes in the pool that is the study of the arcane.

You gain the ability to cast Basic Spells, use Spell Scrolls, and participate in magic Rituals

Adept- (Requires Initiate) Taking the Adept talent means that you’ve devoted your time to the study of magic and you've developed your skills further than most initiates of the arcane. Perhaps you work as a court mage, support your local village as their local hedge wizard or maybe even as a mage in the employ of a military of mercenary company

You gain the ability to cast Intermediate spells, and the ability to lead magic rituals

Archmage- (Requires Adept) Taking the Archmage Talent means that after dedicating yourself to the pursuit of arcane secrets, you’ve unlocked abilities and spells that make you a formidable foe. Perhaps you’ve devoted years to your study at a magical academy, or maybe you’ve spent years wandering the countryside learning all you could from other hedge mages, or perhaps you lucked upon an ancient tome that showed you secrets your mind could barely comprehend.

You gain the ability to cast Advanced Spells the Twin Spell passive ability and may cast the Conflagration spell once a day even if you’ve used all of your Advanced Spell slots

Divine Voice- (Requires Adept) Taking the Divine Voice Talent means while your companions in arcane study have been pursuing the ever increasing power that the arcane has allowed them, you turned your eyes to the healing potential of magic. Over the years you’ve spent time studying healing techniques and how you could amplify these techniques with your magic. Perhaps you’re part of a druidic order, or maybe you’ve learned to channel the powers of whatever god(s) you worship. Whatever the case you’re a welcome sight for all those in your faction who are on death's door.

You gain the healer talent, the ability to cast Advanced Spells and may cast the Breath of Life spell once a day even if you’ve used all of your Advanced Spell slots

Necromancer- (Requires Adept) Taking the Necromancer talent means in your search for the secrets of the arcane you’ve discovered that magic is inextricably linked to the life force of every being. Maybe you’ve stumbled upon a page from an ancient fell tome only spoken of in hushed whispers, maybe a chance encounter with some form of undead creature piqued your interest and diverted your studies towards a darker path. Whatever caused you to follow your path, you’ve learned how to infuse yourself with life and syphon it from others. It’s not pretty but you believe the ends will justify the means in support of your faction.

You gain 1 Essence Point, the ability to cast Advanced Spells and may cast the Essence Syphon spell once a day even if you’ve used all of your Advanced Spell slots

The Trades Talent Tree

The Trades tree consists of talents that will allow you to assist your fellow adventurers by providing healing, scribing spell scrolls, repairing armor, enchanting weapons, and brewing potions that will be necessary to advance your faction's goals.

Alchemist- Taking the Alchemist talent means you've likely spent time either working as an apothecary in a city, or perhaps learned to make poultices and tinctures from a local herbalist. No matter how you developed your skills, your potions and poultices will keep your faction on their feet.

This talent gives you the ability to brew various potions (see the Trades & Economy page for more info)

Scrivener- Taking the scrivener talent means you’ve got a knack for reading, writing, and imbuing scrolls with the magic required for Mages to work their spells. Perhaps you spent time as a scribe at a church of one of the gods in your kingdom, or maybe you’ve been studying the power of words at a mages academy. Regardless of where you developed your skill your faction would run dry of spells without you.

This talent gives you the ability to scribe several different types of magical scrolls (see the Trades & Economy page for more info)

Blacksmith- Taking the Blacksmith Talent means you’ve spent time working a forge. Perhaps you were introduced to the trade through an apprenticeship, or perhaps it’s a family trade. Whether you’ve worked for nobles, or you made nails and horseshoes in a backwater village your skills will keep your faction's weapons, armor and shields in good repair.

This talent gives you the ability to repair shields and armor(see the Trades & Economy page for more info)

Healer- Taking the Healer Talent means that you’ve spent time taking care of the ill and injured, whether you were a battlefield medic, received training from a local wise person in methods of medicinal herbs, your skills at bandaging wounds will keep the members of your faction up and on their feet.

This talent gives you the ability to perform first aid (see the Trades & Economy page for more info)

Weapons & Armor

""Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword has never tried to fight off a half dozen brigands while defending a merchant caravan"

Depending on what you chose for talents your character is able to wear armor and wield weapons to defend themselves and slay their enemies, weapons and armor are organized by how much damage they do and how much protection they provide respectively. Armor can be stacked up to 5 armor points. If you wear a metal helmet you gain an additional armor point to all strike zones for a maximum of 6 armor points.

Armor Types

Light- Light armors include gambesons/padded armor, plain leather, and leather lamellar. Light armors provide +1 armor point

Medium- Medium armors include, splinted leather armor, and ring armor. Medium armors add +2 armor points

Heavy- Heavy Armor includes chainmail, plate armors, coat of plates/brigandines, steel lamellar, and char’aina. Chainmail provides +3 armor points and all other heavy armors provide +4 armor points.

Shields- Shields will protect you completely from damage when hit, however if someone with the Berserker talent hits you with a called Shield Crush ability, it will be rendered useless until repaired.

Weapon Types

Staves-staves can be used by anybody, and they deal 1 point of damage, but only to unarmored areas. The “wooden” pole end of a polearm counts as a staff hit

One-handed weapons- These include daggers, one handed axes and one handed swords less than 36” total length. These weapons deal 1 point of damage

Two-handed weapons- These include polearms, axes and swords 36” in length or more that are also wielded in two hands. These weapons deal 2 points of damage

Bows/Crossbows- Arrows fired from a bow deal 3 points of damage. Bows are not to be fired at anyone who is closer than 15 feet from the archer. All arrows must be of the low velocity foam tipped IDV style, and the arrow tip must be permanently attached to the shaft. Bows and Crossbows deal 3 points of damage

Enchanted Weapons- In some instances you may encounter a sword or dagger with a golden blade, or a polearm with a golden head/blade, etc. Any weapon that has a gold blade/head deals an additional damage with each strike (3 damage for two handed swords/polearms, 2 damage for daggers, 1 handed swords/axes and staves.) Enchanted staves deal damage to armor as if they were any other kind of weapon.

Abilities

Abilities are granted to your character based on your talent choices. It’s best for every player to familiarize themselves at least with called abilities. If one is used on you, knowing its effects will allow the game to flow without being bogged down with rules questions. This will help keep everybody as immersed as possible.

Name

Lockpick

Assassinate

Heroic Charge

Shield Crush

Flamestrike

Twin Spell

Hard To Kill

Description

Certain chests and containers will be marked/locked and only someone with the lockpick ability can open them

You can Assassinate a target who is not in combat by approaching them from behind and tapping them on the shoulder with your dagger and saying “Assassinate” A target that’s been assassinated immediately loses all hit points (without affecting armor points) and drops unconscious (requires target to be under contract for assassination)

Once per day you can tap the shoulders of up to two targets (not including yourself) and grant them an additional 2 hit points for the next 5 minutes, or until they’re used up.

You call out “shield crush” as you strike at your opponent. If your weapon makes contact with their shield it’s considered broken until it can be repaired.

Twice per day you may point at a target within 15 feet that you’re fighting and call "flamestrike" to deal 1 point of damage directly to their torso

For any Basic or Intermediate spell that targets a single player (other than yourself), you may target an additional player.

Once per day if you’re dropped to zero hitpoints, you may get back up with all of your hitpoints restored and you regain 1 essence point (but not your armor points).

Type

Passive

Called

Passive