Lightbringer d20adaptation Player/Character Knowledge,Character creation Metamechanics, and Character Retirement:

My vision for this game will be a bit different from many D20 games, mostly because there are so many different "objectives". There are seven nation-states that are all unified under one ruling body, but some of the states are publicly (and privately) at war with each other (e.g. The "Blood War" between Blood Forrest and Ruthgar). So depending on your character your goal might be to become the strongest Drafter in all of Chromeria, or it might be to end the Blood War once and for all (either through peace or by gaining pure and total dominion for your family), or it could be as small as best the village bully and live happily ever after. Your Character's goals can be anywhere from living on a farm, to joining a military unit, to becoming sole ruler of everything on this side of the Everdark Gates.

Here is the Meta: Your characters will be fragile. Very fragile. If your character manages to get swept up in a war, a stray bullet might kill you as the two sides clash. But although death is the end of your character, it is just the beginning of the game. In this game, the first person named Promachia (Caesar) Wins. (Male: Promachos, Female: Promachae)

Here is the difficulty: Your characters must be complete people. I will challenge you. I will drive you. Your beloved farmer that you spent so long in creation with might not survive three sessions, and for that i am sorry. (although only partially. i'll explain in a bit). please understand this to be a creative exercise. That we are world building together, that we are telling new stories, crafting complex characters, and practicing strange skills together. This act of creation is beautiful, even if your paper sons and daughters are mere fuel for the fire.

BUT. (and here is where it is only partially) Because there is a winner, the board will also reset. Your dead characters can be revised, recast, and reused.

So- You are a higher dimensional being playing with history at your whim. If you need a refresher on player/character knowledge start here. If not go to number 2.

1. There is a sharp distinction that must be made between what a player knows and what a character knows. For instance: I, myself, might understand that fire is a chemical reaction that requires oxygen. But I, my character, Sanson, only understands that fire is hot and blowing on soup cools it down. I recently was part of a campaign based (VERY VERY LOOSELY) on the first thanksgiving. Our LG Cleric was swindled into unknowingly distributing small pox blankets to a tribe of natives. After discovering that the man she received the blankets from was of evil intent, she tried to cleanse the blankets. The party spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to disinfect them, before someone pointed out that the cleric would have no idea what infections are. So instead of boiling and washing the blankets in lye, she would simply try to cure any form of magic or divine trap in the blankets. For examples of 8th century thinking vs. 20th century thinking this seems pretty straight forward. But it is much more difficult to separate when you as a player know a character's motivations, or what worldly events are transpiring beyond the perception of your character, and what your character's knee jerk reaction to a slight would be.

2. I plan on being a stickler for holding people to their character knowledge. But YOU as a player get to decide your character's history, aspirations, and quirks. So, if you created a farmer, your character might not know that a rampaging horde is soon to massacre everyone in your village; but you as a player know that you don't want to create character in this horde's warpath. You get to strategize and metagame to your heart's content. You are a nameless, unknown God, that has decided to make this world your plaything. What wind-up toy soldiers will you think of to send down the rabbit hole?

There are two types of progression in this game: Character levels and Karma Levels. This page deals with Carnation levels. And almost every page after this will be set into tiers based on Player Carnation Level or a knowledge DC made by the Character.

IF YOU ARE A PLAYER PLEASE DO NOT READ PAST YOUR ALLOTTED INFORMATION ON THE PAGES.

Here is the balancing factor. Carnation Levels change how efficiently you can put your will into a character's creation. Not many of us, given the choice, would prefer be born to a struggling farming family outside of a war zone than into an economically stable peaceful suburb. This is the mechanic for player-power creep. It decreases the likely hood of anyone receiving an unfair headstart. Case in point, i know exactly which family gives a character the greatest chance of player achieved victory- but from the get go i dont have the Carnation Level required to put a character there with the benefit of all of my knowledge.

So. Here are the mechanics: Your character comes into play with a list of goals. If your character fails to achieve their primary goal in a lifetime, you lose five Carnation Levels. If you, as a player, cause the death of another player's character, you lose two Carnation Levels. If your character achieves a minor goal, they gain two Carnation Levels. If your character achieves their primary goal, they gain twenty Carnation Levels.

Character Death and Retirement: A Character can die or retire at any moment: they may lose the will to go on or simply find a home where they would rather live a quiet life happily ever after.

Carnation Levels: 1-40: If that Character has achieved their Primary Goal: Then the next character generated received 80% of that Character's XP Allotment. If that Character has NOT achieved their Primary Goal: Then the next character generated receives 110% of that Character's XP Allotment.