Character Creation
From beginning to end everything someone needs begins right here: Follow the steps below to create your characters -
Download the Character Sheet I use - HERE
Now once your character sheet is ready your first step is to have your stats, representing the abilities of your characters to succeed in game: I utilize the Point-Buy System in all my games but if doing the math (listed below) is too tedious for you then I have 5 presets that I have used in the past which you can pick from: Note how these are your ability scores (placed in the first table of the character sheet) and the associated Bonuses are as follows: 8-9 (-1); 10/11 (+0); 12/13 (+1); 14/15 (+2); 16/17 (+3); 18/19 (+4); and 20 (+5). Finally, it should be noted that both your Ancestry and Background will impact these values so feel free to come back and adjust these choices once you’ve selected those
Classic - 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8
Even - 14, 14, 14, 10, 10, 10
Pairs - 14, 14, 12, 12, 10, 10
Trio - 15, 13, 13, 13, 10, 8
Min-Max - 16, 14, 13, 12, 8, 8
For those who want to do math: You have 6 Ability Scores that are all of the value 8 to begin with and have a total of 27 Ability Points to utilize, to change this value of 8 to any other value it will cost a number of points (listed below), and to finish a character you must have exactly 0 points remaining. Place these to these into some ability scores but feel free to switch them up as your character comes into focus…
9 - 1 Point
10 - 2 Points
11 - 3 Points
12 - 4 Points
13 - 5 Points
14 - 7 Points
15 - 9 Points
16 - 11 Points
17 - 14 Points
Now with these set in place and your modifiers known you can set out figuring out your bonuses to the Skills and Saves listed in the table below. As you gain Proficiency and Training with Skills and Saves from the additional choices below you can add additional bonuses to that skill, with Proficiency granting a +2 bonus and Training a +1 bonus, which you should mark down in the table to easily keep track of it as your Proficiency Bonus grows at later levels.
Ancestry: This represents your character’s heritage and the certain aspects of their morphology that would benefit your character, some are prone to memorization or to bursts of speed, or even to muscles that can push without straining beyond the standard human’s normal capabilities, though there are members of each ancestry which shirk these trends without an issue. They normally gain a +2 bonus to certain ability scores which you add to your scores above, though humans gain an additional +2 bonus in exchange for no special abilities
Background: This represents your character’s path or ideas or training before the adventure begins, granting a +1 bonus and additional items, features, and ideas to run with
Class: These are the summation of your character, the way they exhibit themselves in the world and the way that they will survive in the confusing and sometimes violent nature of the Archipelago. The rest of this character’s bonuses will come from this selection along with things that are gained in game, such as items which can be selected from HERE, placed here for your ease of lookup. Now there are 14 Class to choose from and I will give a brief overview to enlighten what your choices might mean along with the Ability Score requirements which you must meet before taking a Level in that Class
Barbarian: Requires 13 Strength and 13 Constitution
The most powerful class, this character sacrifices choices and a variety of abilities that other classes get in exchange for just having more stats and more resistances that can easily survive almost any violent encounter but without the tools to make huge impacts on the non-violent encounters
Bard: Requires 15 Charisma
This is the classic, the meme, the lord of all things charismatic and flirtatious. This is not the most powerful or most versatile of the classes but it gets a little bit of everything while being the emperor of all things social, plus there’s a few options to be less social in exchange for spells or weapons. Most focus on utilizing instruments to proclaim their spells but there are poems or spoken word variants that can be used as well
Cleric: Requires 15 Wisdom
This armored healer stands as one of the most powerful spellcasters in the game while being able to keep allies alive, it relies on being bound to a Divine which represents their path through life and how they think of the world. It is likely that this wise character is a healer but there a few variants which are much more powerful or even much more armored compared to their brethren
Cursed Warrior: Requires 13 Intelligence or Wisdom and 13 Constitution
This class is one of the 3 which I regard as “Special” Classes, it is much more complicated than the other classes and part of its main function is dealing damage to itself as they unlock more powers. This does grant them some powerful abilities but it also comes with a certain aesthetic which some may not enjoy. It functions as a learned warrior and can gain more power (such as becoming a Werewolf) or more preparation abilities such as utilizing alchemical potions you can make as a Mutant
Druid: Requires 15 Wisdom
This wise master of beasts and nature has many talents and is extremely powerful but is fairly reliant on utilizing their ability to change into beasts, with their spellcasting making up for them in a variety of other scenarios. Though their natural magic does provide a good variety of fallback options, between stealth, healing, or damage there are options across the field which can be used
Fighter: Requires 13 Constitution
The most versatile of the classes, this warrior has a dozen builds which can be used to make their powers known in the field, with some preferring combat at range while others lead in the front with a charismatic inspiration and still others take their armor to the next level to stop enemies in their tracks
Monk: Requires 13 Dexterity and 13 Wisdom
This martial class gives up some of the powerful strikes that others get in exchange for a variety of skills that can be used at the behest of Ki Points and relying on wisdom to bolster their defenses. The actual combat itself has a wide variety of options and is enhanced by being the fastest of the classes.
Paladin: Requires 13 Charisma and 13 Constitution
The first Half-Caster on this list this Class splits the difference between a Fighter and Cleric, but utilizing their Charisma instead of their Wisdom to lead the charge against all their enemies. They normally focus on dealing some of the highest damage in the game but can also easily be a healer or a defender in heavy armor if the character leans in that way.
Ranger: Requires 13 Wisdom and 13 Constitution
This nature based Half-Caster is normally seen to focus on stealth and ranged weapons but there are a variety of styles, with large weapons to hunt monsters or a small weapon assassin that uses one in each hand, and even some that rely on their wisdom to gain even more spell power
Rogue: Requires 15 Dexterity
The most skillful of the classes, their reliance on dexterity for most class abilities can be mixed with any other combo as long as their dexterous. They have the most variety of skill proficiencies available and almost always have the highest skill bonuses, in addition to being the best at Stealth
Sorcerer: Requires 15 Charisma
This is the 2nd of the 3 special classes, which utilizes their charisma to control their powerful spells. However unlike the other casters this class doesn’t use Spell Slots, instead their Sorcery Points can be used to both cast spells and manipulate them at their leisure to transform the ways that each spell can work
Spellblade: Requires 13 Intelligence and 13 Constitution
The final Half-Caster utilizes Intelligence as their magical ability and while they have many options to gain additional martial abilities a huge part of their identity is in which Spells they pick as they level up, combing through the arcane spell list as long as it’s one of their limited options
Warlock: Requires 15 Intelligence or Charisma
The final special class this highly customizable class is a full Caster but with a very limited pool of Spell Slots, exchanging this for an extremely reliable cantrip and having dozens of builds through their patron’s gifts to them, which they can change out regularly. They also have the benefit of being the only full Caster who can select whether their Intelligence or Charisma led them to understanding the strange powers above
Wizard: Requires 15 Intelligence
What is thought to be the most powerful class is a weakling in the health department, but as they gain money, levels, and magic they can quickly become the most powerful with a few weeks of preparation and the ability to customize their special books. This is the traditional magical class but with a very high threshold for error if the wrong spells were selected
For the final step in character creation everyone unlocks a Feat from the list, though they must be from either the Ancestral Feats list (though the character must be of that Ancestry to take it) or the Tier I Basic Feats listed directly below that, of which I’ll provide the 5 main Feats which my players have taken in case anyone prefers to just pick from the favorites
Alert
Gain +5 to your Initiative Rolls as well as the first Attack Roll and Damage Roll you make after rolling Initiative
You cannot be Surprised by enemies when entering combat and join in on the Surprise Round instead.
Elemental Adept
Choose 1 type of element between Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, or Thunder. You become Resistant to this type of Damage and ignore Resistance of this Damage Type from enemies
Once per turn when you deal Damage of this type you can Reroll a number of Damage Dice equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you must take these 2nd rolls regardless of result
Lucky
You gain 3 Luck Points to utilize as you see fit, you regain the uses of all 3 on the completion of a Long Rest
You can spend a luck point whenever you roll a d20 to roll again
Tough
Gain +2 Maximum HP per Level
Vicious Attacker
You deal an additional +1d4 Damage with Melee Attacks, increasing to 1d6 at Level 5 and to 1d8 at Level 9 this becomes 1d8
