Age Of Dragons: Lifepath, Arete and Edges

Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> Age Of Dragons: Hatchery Overview -> Age Of Dragons: Lifepath, Arete and Edges

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Overview of Lifepath, Arete and Edges

• Lifepaths: Select your Lifepath or Lifepaths.
• Determine Arete: Determine your Arete in each Lifepath you have.
• Determine Edges: Select and record the Edges that your Lifepath has given you.

Lifepaths

Refer to the section "Lifepaths" for a full list of Lifepaths available and to the section "The Twelve Breeds" for guidance on which Lifepaths your breed is well suited to.

Select one or more Lifepaths and determine how many years you have dedicated to each.

For example, if your dragon is 195 years old, you could have the following:

• Scholar Sage 145 years
• Ambassador-Courtier 50 years

By default, the game assumes that new Dragons player characters are between 100 and 199 years old. This age can be determined randomly (99 + D100) or just chosen by the player.

Arete

Arete translates roughly as "excellence" - it represents the pursuit of mastery and perfection in a Lifepath, as well as understanding and competence in that field of expertise.

Each Lifepath has a separate Arete score.

For each full 25 years spent in a lifepath, add +1 to the Arete you have in that Lifepath.

For example, the Dragon in the section above would have the following:

• Scholar-Sage, Arete 5.
• Ambassador-Courtier, Arete 2.

Determine Edges

Lifepaths give certain benefits, called Edges. For each point of Arete you have select one Edge from that Lifepath. Record those Edges on your character sheet.

Note that as your dragon spends more time on that Lifepath, he gains additional Arete and addition Edges.

The "Lifepaths" section details these in full, but broadly Edges can be divided into different types:

• Skills

These Edges enhance your ability to perform certain tasks, usually adding your Arete to the appropriate Sphere rating.

• Powers

These Edges allow you to employ a new inherent ability of some sort, which you would not otherwise have access to.

• Suspires

These Edges allow you to cast magic through the arcane power of your Dragonsbreath. By default you don't know any Suspires, and you have to pursue lifepaths to learn them.

• Techniques

These Edges allow you to access specialised techniques, which you wouldn't be able to use otherwise. They might enhance your fighting ability, or give you an advantage in other arenas.

Some Edges occur on more than one Lifepath. Regardless, Edges are never cumulative, and a Dragon can only gain a given Edge once. The implications of this are as follows:

• If you have several Skills that could apply to a task, you only apply one of them (normally the one associated with the largest bonus).
• If more than one Edge enhances an Sphere on any task, you can only benefit from the best of those enhancements.
• If more than one Edge weakens an Sphere on any task (for example with suspires that debuff an enemy), you only suffer from the worst of those weaknesses.

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