Creating a Character

Roll 3d6 for each attribute

Each character has six attributes: Strength (STR), Dexterity (DEX), Constitution (CON), Charisma (CHA), Intelligence (INT), and Wisdom (WIS). Roll 3d6 for each attribute. You may put them in any order.

Assign Grit and Wit Dice

Grit and Wit dice represent your character’s marginal abilities in combat and discourse. Take the middle score of your STR, DEX, and CON for Grit. Do the same with CHA, INT, and WIS for Wit. Assign Grit and Wit dice according to the chart.

Middle Score     Grit/Wit Die

3 - 8                        1d6

9 - 12                      2d6

13 - 18                    3d6

Derive Secondary abilities and values

Round up whenever you divide

Carrying Capacity

Your character can carry a number of items equal to their STR. If they carry more, you have disadvantage on all checks.  If you carry more than double your carrying capacity, you cannot move.

Speed

Your character’s speed is equal to their DEX score divided by 6 then multiplied by 2. Your character can Walk that many units, Run double those units, and Shift half those units in a combat round.

Wound Limit

Your character can sustain a number of Wounds equal to your CON score divided by 6. When your character reaches their Wound limit, they die.

Followers' Morale

Your retainers and followers make morale checks against your CHA.

Skill Limit

Your character can have a number of skills equal to your INT score divided by 3.

Special Limit

Each class has a choice of attributes from which they determine their special limit called their Prime Requisite. The Prime Requisite divided by 3 is your special limit.

Concession Limit

Your character can give a number of Concessions equal to their WIS score divided by 6. When your character reaches their Concession limit, they concede.

Choose a Class

Fighter

The Fighter is a combat focused class. They get +1 to their Wound limit, and their class specials are Deeds, feats of heroism, cunning, and strength they can use to dominate their enemies.

Specialist

The Specialist is an all-purpose class. Depending on the trusty items you pick, you could play anything from a thief to an actor to a ship captain.

Bard

The Bard is a Parley focused class. They get +1 to their Concession limit, and their class special is Polemics, feats of rhetoric that can overcome great obstacles.

Magic-User

The Magic-User is catch-all class for whatever kind of magic-user you want to play. Their class specials are spells which can be anything from a wizard’s spells to a druid’s rituals or a cleric's miracles.

Hopeless
The hopeless have no abilities. Their attributes are rolled with 2d6 instead of 3d6, and they start with only 2d6x10 silver to buy equipment. This makes for a fun challenge.

Skills

Special knowledge or talents your character has are represented by skills. These are things like stealth, tinkering, musicianship, architecture, arcana, navigation, etc.

In the wilderness, using stealth to hide from a wandering war-band 100 yards away requires a Dexterity check, not a stealth skill check. However, sneaking into their camp without waking them – that requires skill.

Stealth is a skill, and so a character with that skill is capable of unusual feats of stealth, or whatever talent they have. In normal circumstances, however, all characters would have at least a small chance to succeed.

Knowledge based skills, like musicianship, are different. Not all characters have a chance to have musical skill with a random instrument. In these cases, characters without the necessary skill automatically fail.

What is a knowledge-based skill or talent-based skill is up to the referee to decide with common sense. Can this task be completed by anyone? Or does this require specialized training?

When testing skills, the player in question rolls a d6. If they roll less than or equal to their rank, they succeed. If they roll over their rank, they fail. Advantage and disadvantage can be applied to these rolls as normal.

All characters have a 1-in-6 chance to succeed at any task that requires skill – rank 1 - except knowledge-based skills as mentioned previously. Skills your character knows start at rank 2, and can be improved in increments of 1 by spending a number of experience points equal to the desired rank multiplied by 6. Ranks can be improved to a maximum of 5.

Beliefs

Beliefs are what motivates your character to adventure.

When you fulfill a belief, uphold a belief, change a belief, or even abandon a belief, the referee rewards you with Experience Dice (d6).

A belief is a declaration followed by a plan of action. Each character has 3 beliefs – one about a minor, short-term goal. This will be achieved and replaced frequently. One about another member of the party, and one about the world at large – a philosophical belief.

Buy Equipment

Roll 3d6 and multiply by 10. You have that much silver to buy equipment from the equipment list. If you have any silver left over, your character will start the game with a coin purse for every 100 silver, taking up one encumbrance slot each.

Name Your Character

Give your character an evocative and memorable name. Make sure the characters’ names start with different letters if there are more than one.