Editing Character creation


The game covers broad archetypes for characters.

Stats are rolled normally but may go as high as 21 (for humans - +3 above rolled max for others).

'''Background''' can affect stats...so can '''choices'''.

'''Skills'''. Similar to RQII/III, skills come in '''categories''' - but categories represent your chance with any common skill of that category. Specialist skills are attached to a category, but use the same % chance.

The Categories
*War - conflict, weapons, fortitude. Str,Dex,Pow.
*Knowing - knowledges, lores and sciences Int,Pow
*Insight - Inspiration, perception  and esthetic Pow, Cha
*Artisan - Growing and taming , Craft and professional skills Str/Dex, Int.
*Arcane - The Sixth World, Occult and Spiritual Pow, Int/Cha.
*Natural - The outdoors, instinct and perception. Con, Int/pow.
*Civil - The urban, intersocial and perception. Cha, Int/pow.
*Social - Communication and interaction. Int, Cha.
*Physical - The body, movement and the manual Str,Dex,Con

'''Option''': Characters can take specialties within a skill - normally a skill cluster (similar in size to combat style), but sometimes a unique but difficult skill (Alchemy, Medical Knowledge, Engineer)that mimics a skill cluster. 

'''Mysticism''': Used in this game to represent innate, fate or luck driven characters. This type of magic is almost no magic as it draws upon powers that are innate to existence.
Often found as warriors oaths, creeds, personal codes of honor or more formalised laws, these mystic paths are basically the equivalent of the luck, drive, will and outstanding bursts of ability true warrior-heroes are capable of. They are not considered magic, nor do mystic abilities detect as such. Mystics in this system may be scoundrels, rogues, ne'er do wells and corsairs as often as they are knights, duellists, champions or captains or arms.

'''Sorcery''': Despite the seeming flexibility of sorcery, in this D&D inspired version of RQ, magic users are bound to, at most, a dozen different magical effects in each circle of power, of which there are Nine. These arcane and mighty spells are the results of centuries of use and refinement, often relying on tricks from centuries-dead master wizards for the power of these masterwork enchantments. While new spells can be researched, they are tremendously time consuming and expensive to boot. 95% of wizards never do any original magic research.
The spells of each circle often have set mp requirements, or a mp cost that is not known until after the spell takes effect. These limit the ability of sorcerors to shape spells...each mp cost above 1 counts as a point of shaping. 

Magic users cannot use their spells around iron, although steel and bronze seem fine. They must undergo a rigorous apprenticeship which leaves no time for physical pursuits.

'''Divine magic'''. The RQ divine magic system runs in the background of the game...Clerics are something different. 
Clerics are individuals, often outside of established religions, that are literally struck with divine awakening. They understand, on some level that others do not, the true measure of divine power that underpins reality. Clerics make a choice when 'born'...they adhere to one of three powers. The light, the dark and the middle way. These powers go by different titles in different cultures. Law, balance and chaos, good, neutral and Evil are but two examples.

Similar to mages, clerics manifest a range of spells and powers that are commonly recognised. There are seven degrees of understanding, each supporting, at most, a dozen different divine spells and powers. 

Clerics are always divinely inspired warriors, capable in combat. Every cleric is sworn to use no weapon with a blade, edge or point as a price for this inspiration. Clerics need no training to gain this ability. They also gain great powers over the undead, the nature of which depends on their leaning.

While clerics are often born out of priesthoods or common worshippers of a god or divine being, they are not beholding to any one divine power, except by choice. Their powers draw directly from the same celestial/natural/infernal power (that drives creation) that the gods empower. Most clerics, of course, do not know this.

Clerics are often seen as mavericks or madfolk, even by their own gods followers. None can deny their divine connections, however - and their raw power.

'''Spirit Magic''' Is considered an inferior and dangerous art in this version of RQ, due to the large amount of spirits that can embody on the middle plane and are independent, free-willed creatures. The strongest bastions of shamanistic spirit magic are amongst primitive or remote groups who can rely on a well known set of ancestor spirits and familiarity with the local spirit plane to produce relatively useful shaman types. This is often the case with more established tribes of orcs, goblinkind, giants, ogres, etc.

'''Folk Magic''' exists, but is tied to mundane skills rather than a folk magic skill in 90% of cases. The Woodcrafter skill might govern that bladesharp magic you learned, while Medicine, herblore or cordials and elixers might come with a healing spell. 
Folk magic will not work around iron (or cold forged steel).

Wizards, druids, witches, herbwives and the like are those people who ''do'' have a folk magic skill. They are able to enhance the effects of normal folk magic using this skill, often using the results of crafts or skills as repositories for one-use spells.

Combinations. There is nothing to stop characters starting with two or more styles of magic - nearly all the magic styles incorporate some form of folk magic, for example.
However, a sworn forester (Mystic style) could also have been divinely inspired, or follow a traditional cult/religion, or know some folk magic. Many magical orders or religions have different types of magic-workers within them that require a knowledge of sorcery and divine magic, or sorcery and spirit magic.