Editing 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=

* '''Primary Lifepath:''' Select your first Lifepath.
* '''Apply Experience:''' If you are creating experienced dragons, you may need to apply Experience.
* '''Determine Edges:''' Record the Edges that your Lifepath has given you.

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=Selecting a Primary Lifepath=

Refer to the section [[Age Of Dragons: Lifepaths|"Lifepaths"]] for a full list of Lifepaths available and to the section [[Age Of Dragons: The Twelve Breeds|"The Twelve Breeds"]] for guidance on which Lifepaths your breed is well suited to.

Select one Lifepath as your '''Primary Lifepath'''. This Lifepath starts with an '''Arete''' score of '''1''', representing your life experience to this point.

'''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.
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=Apply Experience and Determine Arete=

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.

Sometimes though, it is necessary to make an older and more experienced Dragon character.

'''For each full 100 years of a Dragon's life, that Dragon can either gain a new Lifepath with Arete 1, or add +1 to the Arete of an existing Lifepath.'''

For example, a 600 year old Dragon could have the following:
* Ambassador-Courtier, Arete 3.
* Scholar-Sage, Arete 1.
* Warmaster, Arete 2.

Note that no Lifepath can ever have an Arete score higher than 10, and to achieve even that a Dragon will have to dedicate the whole millennium of his lifespan to relentlessly pursuing a single Lifepath.
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=Determine Edges=

Lifepaths give certain benefits, called '''Edges'''. The [[Age Of Dragons: Lifepaths|"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 ''Aspect'' 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 Aspect on any task, you can only benefit from the best of those enhancements.
* If more than one ''Edge'' weakens an Aspect on any task (for example with suspires that debuff an enemy), you only suffer from the worst of those weaknesses.

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[[Category:Age_of_Dragons|Core Framework]]