NW:Character Generation

The Process

The New World campaign uses the True20 rules which allows a great deal of customization when it comes to building a character. Each character will be built with the following process:

• Determine what kind of character you'll be playing, such as a well-read barbarian, failed mage apprentice, holy woman to a god of debauchery, or a double-fisted warrior who blends magic into his attacks. Use your imagination. We'll be starting at 1st level.
  • Once this is determined a Role (aka Class) will be created for your review. After tweaking it will be your character's Role.
• Select a Background from the list below
• Personal details such as age, gender, general appearance, etc.
• Select or create a Virtue and Vice for the character.
• Select starting feats and skills and assign abilities.
• Answer why your character is going to the new world.

The most important part of this process is to talk about your character with Randy.

Why are you going to the New World?

Each character has their own motivation for traveling to the perilous journey across the ocean to the New World. Usually these reasons are thrust upon the individual. Some are criminals seeking to avoid the long arm of the law, while others are soldiers for hire without families.

I ask that you make your reason for this journey a little darker than you would a typical campaign.

Sources

The campaign is going to start out using only the rules from the True20 Core Revised book. As the campaign progresses additional material will be added. Homebrew material is encouraged.

Abilities

True20 uses the typical d20 abilities of Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha. Each ability is listed only as the modifier. For example a d20 strength of 18 would be listed in True20 as +4.

Each PC has six ability points to spend. You may reduce an ability to as much as -5 to gain extra points to spend on other abilities. An ability may not exceed +5 unless a background grants a bonus to that ability.

Backgrounds

Backgrounds help to further define the social (and sometimes racial) backgrounds of your hero. The following backgrounds are available. If you have an idea that isn't listed here, contact me.

Favored feats are feats that your character always has access to, regardless of role.

Amazon

Amazons are a group of humans renowned for their women warriors. Their society is matriarchal. The women work and fight while the men perform household chores and care for the children.

Bonus Feats for Amazon Women Attack Focus (bow), Skill Focus (Ride), Weapon Training

Bonus Feats for Amazon Men Endurance, Skill Focus (Craft (cooking)), Skill Focus (Diplomacy)

Favored Feats Attack Specialization, Greater Attack Focus

Atlantean

Atlanteans are a race of sea-people who can commune with the creatures of the ocean’s depths. They are held in awe and fear by many seagoing cultures, ruling the waterways when they so choose.

Skills Atlanteans have a +8 bonus on Swim checks. They can always take 10 on Swim checks, even if rushed or threatened.

Aquatic empathy Atlanteans have the benefits of the Animal Empathy feat, but only with aquatic creatures.

Bonus Feats Night Vision

Hold breath Atlanteans can hold their breath for 60 rounds, plus 6 x their Constitution score in rounds before they risk drowning.

Water dependency Atlanteans dehydrate more easily than land-dwellers. They must be immersed in water once per day or consume twice as much water as a normal human. An Atlantean with no immersion and limited to normal human water consumption or less suffers from dehydration (see Starvation and Dehydration in on page 112).

Monk

Monks are the undisputed masters of unarmed combat.

Bonus Feats Improved Strike, Prone Fighting, Talented (Acrobatics and Jump)

Favored Feats Chokehold, Stunning Attack

Highlander

Highlanders are a members of a ferocious warrior race that lives in a mountainous region. They are known for their ferocity in combat, their passion in artistic performance and their intimate connection to nature.

Bonus Feats Startle, Taunt, Talented (Knowledge (nature), Survival)

Favored Feats Fascinate, Rage

Horse Lord

The Horse Lords are a nomadic people who roam the plains, taming the wild horses that live there. From a very young age they learn to ride, and their cavalry are the finest the world has ever known.

Bonus Feats Animal Empathy (only applies to horses), Skill Focus (Handle Animal), Skill Focus (Ride)

Favored Feats Attack Focus, Spirited Charge

Noble

Nobles are the upper class of the civilized world.

Bonus Feats Wealthy, Fascinate, Talented (Any two charisma-based skills and Sense Motive)

Favored Feats Suggestion, Inspire

Nomad

Nomads are a people of the desert. They are skilled at surviving in such harsh terrain, subsisting as traders and herders.

Bonus Feats Skill Focus (Survival), Talented (Handle Animal and Ride), Weapon Training

Favored Feats Diehard, Evasion

Norseman

Norsemen are a fierce race of raiders from the icy north. They are known for their skill at sea and feared for their berserker warriors.

Bonus Feats Talented (Drive (water vehicles only) and Navigate), Skill Focus (Survival), Weapon Training

Favored Feats Rage, Tough

Roamer

The roamers are an often persecuted and misunderstood race of wandering entertainers, acrobats and musicians. Few know where these folk originated from, but they are rumored to be gifted with second sight. Some say they are cursed to never cross the same river twice in the same year.

Bonus Feats Talented (Acrobatics and Slight of Hand), Skill Focus (Perform (pick any two)).

Favored Feats Evasion, Sneak Attack

Tribesman

Tribesmen come from any number of hunter-gatherer tribes. Their ability to track and bring down their quarry is unsurpassed.

Bonus Feats Skill Focus (Survival), Track, Trackless

Favored Feats Hide in Plain Sight, Tough

Wild Man

Wild men are a barbaric and degenerate race of humans. The have no interest in the trappings of civilization, and often pose a grave threat to those who encroach on their territory. Many consider them little better than animals.

Bonus Feats Endurance, Track

Scent Trait

Dwarf of the Mines

Dwarves are a race of stocky, taciturn humanoids that generally live underground and are known for their skill in stone- and metalworking.

Ability Adjustments +1 Constitution, –1 Charisma

Bonus Feats Great Fortitude, Night Vision, Talented (Craft and Search, only involving stonework)

Favored Feats Diehard, Favored Opponent (goblins or giants)

Carnival Gnome

Gnomes are small humanoids (see the Small Heroes sidebar). They prefer to live in comfortable burrows in hillsides where animals abound, and they’re well known for both their gregarious nature and as cunning tricksters and practical jokers.

Ability Adjustments +1 Constitution, –1 Strength

Bonus Feats Iron Will, Night Vision, Talented (Craft [chemical] and Notice)

Favored Feats Choose Fascinate and Favored Opponent (goblins), or a supernatural power.

Roles

Each character has a Role, which defines saving throws, combat bonus, feats progression and access, conviction, and reputation. Class abilities have become feats. For example Sneak Attack is now a feat. I'm going to work with each player and build a Role to fit each character. There are rules for this in the True20 Core Rulebook, so all the Roles will be balanced with each other.

Roles created for The New World

• Trustifarian
• Woodsman

Powers (Spells and spellcasting)

Powers, also known as spells, can be gained instead of a feat when your character gets new feats. Your character can have access to a few powers (like the Duskblade) or to many powers (like a wizard or cleric). When developing your character you'll need to have an idea of what kind of spellcaster your character will be so we can create a list of powers to grant access to.

Virtues and Vices

All intelligent creatures make moral choices, to live according to their better nature or to give in to immoral impulses. Many walk a difficult line between the two. Each character in True20 has a particular nature, which is made up of a virtue and a vice.

During character creation, select a virtue and a vice to decide your character’s nature. A list of examples is given below, but you can make up your own virtues and vices. The key is to give your hero one good quality (virtue) and one bad quality (vice).

Virtues

Courageous, Free-Spirited, Bold, Generous, Gregarious, Hopeful, Daring, Thoughtful, Compassionate, Industrious, Honest, Fair, Kind, Determined.

Vices

Cowardly, Hidebound, Fearful, Miserly, Cynical, Impulsive, Selfish, Lazy, Capricious, Petty, Arrogant, Stubborn, Manipulative, Insensitive.

Why?

Virtues and Vices replace the alignment system in the d20 system. When a character behaves in accordance with either a virtue or vice in a significant way they regain Conviction points.

Feats

True20 feats are broken into a few categories:

• Adept: For spellcasters
• Adversary: Generally for monsters
• Expert: For the skillful
• General: Freely accessed by everyone
• Warrior: For combat folk

You have free access to General feats only. The other categories of feats are granted by your Role. For example a Role that mimics an Arcane Trickster would have access to Expert and Adept feats.

Here is a sortable list of True20 feats

Each character starts out with the bonus feats from their background, as well as four additional feats.

Skills

See NW:Rules.

Wealth

Instead of tracking gold, we will be using a Wealth score instead. Learn more about Wealth. You may take 20 on your wealth check to purchase items, just note any reduction in your wealth score from purchasing that item.

This method for handling equipment could possibly be prone to abuses. If it presents an issue it may be replaced with hard coinage.

No firearms

The world does not have firearms.