Editing The Sheltered Hand


== The Sheltered Hand ==

[[File:The_Sheltered_Hand.png]]

'''A Brief History'''

The Sheltered Hand is a peninsula jutting off a larger continent. Called 'The Hand' originally as it separates into five smaller peninsulae.

It gains the name Sheltered in two ways.

First, the Suntoucher Mountains - a range of large mountains that blocks most travel to and from the peninsula. The Suntouchers extend into the ocean both to the North and South, making travel even by water treacherous.

Second, some three hundred years ago, the great prophet Carran, tired of the near constant war between the gods and their faithful, had the audacity and the courage to upbraid them.

While all know that the gods cannot - or at least, will not - slay mortals directly, as the saying goes, 'you'd be surprised what you can live through'. None doubt his courage.

Nor was his tongue lacking, either, as he convinced some of the gods - eighteen in all - to aid him. He took his followers and others as tired of the war as he, and removed to The Hand, home at the time to a long-isolated peoples - the Saram - who welcomed him and his followers.

The gods with him then put up The Shield. The passes between the mountains and even the water paths, could no longer be traversed by any armies, and no gods, nor their power, could operate from outside.

Several nations formed, but the people of the Sheltered Hand learned a lesson - the intervention of Gods wasn't needed for folk to fight, and fight they did.

The priests of the Gods and the followers of Carran strove mightily to stop the fighting, but all they managed was to limit it.

Until seventy years ago - give or take - when the followers of Carran, now calling themselves The Creed of Carran, showed their hand. In every nation then standing, The Creed had been building power, and they showed that power, stopping the wars and battles that were occurring. The Churches of the Gods, working with The Creed, helped to enforce that peace. Even the Gods, it seems place the Creed of Carran over worship to their own faiths, though they do still ask for worship.

Of course, no peace is perfect. There are still skirmishes, outlaws, and so on, but the Creed prepared for that, as well. They created an offshoot - the Carran Guild - which provides training and some support to the kind of outsiders who can act when others can't.

'''Character Creation'''

'''Step One''' – Determine Characteristics

Characters have Might, Perception, Agility, Stamina, Presence and Will.

Assign values: 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2 as desired.

'''Step Two''' – Choose People

Characters come from one of the following People: Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Halflings, Gnomes and Half-Elves

Your choice of People gives your character Special Attributes, Advantages, or other benefits, which has been provided up thread.

'''Step Three''' – Choose Culture

Characters come from one of ten different cultures.

Each Culture provides three Abilities at Student (2) from a set list of five, a list of preferred weapons, and a Bonus Background, which covers the general knowledge learned within that Culture (See upthread).

'''Step Four''' – Choose or create Background.

Each Background provides two Abilities as Apprentice (3). In a change from upthread, if your Background increases a Cultural Ability, that Ability goes to Apprentice (3) and you can select another Ability at Student (2).

'''Step Five''' – Choose or create a Profession

Creating a Profession (I don’t have many created yet, my bad) is simple enough. Choose five Abilities that fit within that Profession. One of those Abilities will be raised to Adept (5), and two others to Journeyman (4).

This includes Special Abilities such as Magic.

If one of the Abilities Raised already has a Level from Culture or Background, raise that Ability, then select another Ability (Choosing first from the others available to the Profession) to take the Level of the prior Ability.

(Example: If selecting Melee Weapons to raise to Adept (5), but the character already has it at Student (2), Melee Weapons is raised to Adept (5) and another Ability is taken at Student (2).

In addition, every Profession either provides access to a Special Ability or it provides a set Advantage, representing a specific bit of training available only within that Profession. The value of the Advantage can be +1, +2 or +3, based on how specific the conditions of its use are.

'''Step Six'''

Spend Advances. Every character has 15 Advances available to spend on increasing Characteristics, Increasing Ability Levels and purchasing Special Attributes.

Characteristics cost 2 Advances per point, so to increase a Characteristic from 4 to 6 would cost 4 Advances.

Abilities are a little harder, mostly because they’re where all the action is. Increasing an Ability costs the Level you’re gaining in Advances. (To gain Master (6) from Adept (5) costs 6 Advances.)

You can also purchase new Abilities. The cost is the same – gaining Neophyte (1) with an Ability costs 1 Advance.

Special Attributes cost Advances based on their Scope and Impact. I’ll work with you on the cost of any Special Attributes.

'''Step Seven'''

Final Steps.

Determine secondary Characteristics:

Wound Threshold is 2. Will of 5 or 6; or Stamina of 5 or 6 will add 1 to that (This is cumulative if you wish to spend sufficiently to get both). Add any benefits from People.

Base Weight is 100 kg. Orcs have a Base Weight of 150 kg. Might determines how much your character can carry or lift.

Movement: 8m. Only increases by purchasing an appropriate Special Attribute.

Bruises: Wound Threshold +2. Most characters will have a value of 4.

Wounds: Wound Threshold +1. Most characters will have a value of 3.

Conditions: All characters start with 3 Condition slots, unless a Special Attribute increases that value.

Finalize Abilities:

In addition to the Abilities provided by Culture, Background and Profession, character have some abilities that can be used at a Default Level, if not purchased higher. This is not a purchased Level, and only applies if the Ability was not purchased otherwise.

Athletics has a Default Level of ½ Might

Acrobatics has a Default Level of ½ Agility

Awareness has a Default Level of ½ Perception

Presence provides a Default Level to one of the following Abilities: Deceive, Intimidate, Oratory, Persuasion or Seduction. The Default Level is ½ Presence.

Gear

For anything except weapons and armour, the only restriction is that of reasonability – whatever your character is carrying, they should be able to carry, and shouldn’t include more than one minor luxury item (A Fur lined cape, a small, semi-precious stone, etc.)

Peoples

Cultures

Essential Rules