Norrathians: Character Creation

Restrictions

Only non-evil classes and races are available as starting options. This will be a game based on being heroes in the world of Norrath, fighting against the likes of the Heretics of Paineel and the shadow knights of Grobb’s Nightkeep.

Races

Use the information in the New Racial Information page. The racial traits and attribute adjustments are different than what appears in the EQrpg PHB. There are also new half-breed races that exist in the world. These are all, collectively, half elf and half human. As such, they all replace the information presented in the EQrpg PHB for the half elf race.

Background information for the playable races has not changed from the EQrpg PHB. The half-breed races do not have extensive background information presented, but mostly these characters are the product of their parent cultures.

Also, the vah shir are not a playable race, as the means to get to Luclin’s surface has not yet been discovered. Likewise, the frogloks are still a primitive race of monstrous humanoids who have not awakened into a strong enough peoples to be considered viable as a player race.

Racial Tradition

This feature is borrowed from the EQII online game. Your character will start with one racial tradition.

Ability Scores

Ability scores are purchased using the point buy system, with a pool of 23 points. All stats start at 8, and higher scores cost points one-for-one, up to 14. Higher scores have the following costs: 15 (8), 16 (10), 17 (13), 18 (16). Starting ability scores cannot be purchased lower or higher than this range.

While usually it is more efficient to have even-numbered ability scores, don’t worry about having an odd number. Your ability scores will frequently be altered by items and spells. Also, there are no "useless" ability scores. Even a troll warrior benefits a great deal from having a high Charisma score (even though you'll likely never find a troll warrior with even a passable Charisma score).

In addition to the racial ability score adjustments, characters gain ability score bonuses based on their first class level, as follows:

• Bard +2 Dex, +1 Cha
• Beastlord +2 Dex, either +1 Str or Con
• Cleric +2 Wis, either +1 Str or Con
• Druid +2 Wis, +1 Con
• Enchanter +2 Cha, +1 Int
• Hexblade +2 Dex, either +1 Int or Cha
• Magician +2 Int, +1 Con
• Monk +2 Dex, either +1 Str or Con
• Necromancer +2 Int, either +1 Dex or Con
• Paladin +2 Str, either +1 Con or Wis
• Ranger +2 Dex, either +1 Str or Wis
• Rogue +2 Dex, either +1 Str or Cha
• Shadow Knight +2 Str, either +1 Con or Cha
• Shaman +2 Wis, either +1 Con or Cha
• Warrior +2 Str, +1 Con
• Wizard +2 Int, +1 Con

Hit Points

As the class information states, you gain your maximum hit points for your first Hit Die. Each additional Hit Die is rolled. Results that are less than half of the total possible may be re-rolled until the result is at least half, but the first die result that is half or more must be accepted.

Level and Multiclassing

All characters will start at level 1. Multiclassing is allowed, however, once your character gains his or her first level in a class, the following 3 levels must be of the same class. Only after gaining 4 levels in a class will your character be ready to start learning a new path. If for some reason, your character tries to (or is forced to) switch to advancing in a different class after gaining less than 4 levels in her current class, she loses those levels.

All levels may be gained in any class, restricted only by your character’s ability to gain acceptance in the guilds which train members of the desired class. Your starting class is dependant on your race, because in order to join one of the larger guilds, your character must be welcome within their ranks. However, if you want to play against type and play a character who starts off as a class not normally available to that race, it will be considered as long as it can be justified.

This justification is accomplished by altering some of the setting’s lore. You can’t alter the main cities of the game (for instance, by creating a magician’s guild in Rivervale), but you can create other sources of class training. This will require quite a bit of work on your part, because you will need to create a location and NPCs which will allow your character to train in a normally disallowed class. Even after all this work, there will be a limit to the number of levels that can be trained thus.

For example, Shannon wants to play an erudite warrior. Obviously her character won’t have been training as a warrior in Erudin; there are no formal warrior trainers in the city, and she has far better opportunities available to her here. So, Shannon decides that her character will be from another place. She then creates a tiny village out on the Grand Plateau that’s so insignificant that only a few people even know that someone’s named it. Here Shannon’s character grew up as the adopted daughter of a human family of farmers. The mother in this family was once a prominent member of the Steel Warriors in Qeynos, and decides that her adopted daughter is going to be capable of handling herself in a fight. So, she spends her childhood being trained as a warrior, and eventually leaves to see the world as an adventurer.

Shannon’s character could take the racial tradition inherited alliance to make it easier for the Steel Warriors of Qeynos to accept her, so that once she is level 10 and her mother can no longer teach her anything new, she can travel to Qeynos to continue her training. This is all that is required to request GM approval. However, if this idea is acceptable, Shannon still needs to flesh out the village by making a map, writing up some NPCs to populate it, and describing some history about the place. It needs to be fully usable as a game world location, because her character will be returning there, perhaps with her allies, in the future. And, this is all in addition to the 4x4 information required for the character.

Spells and Songs

If your character is a dedicated spellcaster, you will start with a spell/song book that contains 4 spells or songs that your guild has available. First level spells and songs are generally cheaper when purchased at your starting guild, but some guild stores will have spells and songs that others do not. It will pay to shop around and keep an eye out for spells which might interest you. Keep in mind that spells are generally fairly expensive and hard to come by, so it is wise to be selective.

Background Information

Your character's alignment is not as important in this setting as it is in D&D and other settings. There are no means by which others might detect your alignment, and there are no spells and few effects that hamper or affect targets of specific alignments. However, it is important to choose an alginment and a deity, because your character's actions and alignment might become very important to your patron god if he or she begins to pay attention to you.

Your character has a real history in the world. He or she should be motivated to serve the best interests of god and guild. However, the character need not be a one-dimensional stereotype of your class or religion. Think through why your character has made the life decisions that have lead him or her to this point in life.

Aside from background information that defines your character’s motivations, you also need to create some secondary players in your character’s story. This is called a “4x4”. A 4x4 lists 4 contacts, 4 allies, 4 enemies, and 4 locations of your character. These contacts are capable people you know who will help you for a price. Your allies are close friends and family members who will help you out of a sense of loyalty – or they could be used as people who will call on you to do the same for them. Your character’s enemies are foes or rivals with whom your character has a history, and who are capable of being problematic opponents again in the future. The four locations are specific places not otherwise detailed in the setting information where your character has experienced something interesting. These could be towns where your character once lived, locations of a known treasure stash, a natural landmark where something significant happened, a village where a contact of yours can be found, etc.

Your 4x4 need not be limited to only four of each, and could have other information besides contacts, allies, enemies, and places. Other ideas include magical items, unique spells neverbefore heard of, or stories that illuminate the setting. This information will likely be used in plot points during the game, so don’t include information that mirrors highly personal elements of your own life, or subjects that you would feel uncomfortable discussing and dealing with in-game.

The 4x4 information is just as required as your starting stats, character’s name, class information, and purchased equipment. You don’t have a character without a 4x4.

Get Started!

Ready to get started? Great! Then head to this page and start filling out the information!

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EQrpg: Norrathians