Character Creation

Character Concept and Background

The first thing to do is, of course, to consider what to play. This may seem trivial, but it is very important that the character being created, is one that is enjoyable to play.

A very important aspect of the Characters background is Breed, which not only give the racial origin but also the cultural background. The Breed has grave importance upon acting and reacting within the company of extraneous nationalities. It should be noted, that some Breeds can be very limited in interaction as a result of historical and religious prejudice.

When thinking about a characters background, the Player should consider which Occupation to choose for the Character, because the Occupation defines the Character in many ways. The Player should be careful that the Occupation is not conflicting with the background and ideas which the character is based upon. Of course it may be the whole point of the character, to have a background that does not work well with the Occupation. But such a choice should be made conscience – not by accident.

If the Character has a well constructed background, it gives the Gamemaster a better opportunity to conduct an story around the character, and by doing so making the Characters (and Players) life more exciting. But a more important reason for making a good background, is for the Player to more easily get acquainted with the Character.

Here are some rules, which can help the Player to build a better and more interesting Character.

Rule one: The Character created should be enjoyable to play.

This may seem obvious, but there are times when Players end up with Characters they do not like to play. This is normal because of unfulfilled expectations. The next three rules will help making a Character without annoying surprises.

Rule two: The character should fit in with the other Player's characters.

If the Character is anti-social and annoying, it should be of no surprise that the other Characters do not wish to interact with this person, and because of this render the story rather boring for the Player. It's a good idea to communicate with the other Players, and agree upon the type of Characters to make. Or at least make some rational observations on the other Players and their Characters, and decide from that.

Rule three: Make a Character that can take part in a Storyline

It should not be a surprise that the Gamemaster want the Character to be involved in a Storyline. So the Player should make a Character which is willing and able to face the conflicts in the game. If the Player is not sure what type of Character that fits into the narrative of the Storyline, the Gamemaster may place some hints.

Rule four: Create a Character which is active.

This will just make gaming more interesting for everyone.

Forming the personality

The background concept and the Occupation gives a good foundation for playing a Character, but if relying only on this, there is a risk that the personality will become a stock, cliché type. When a Player thinks about a Mercenary or a Berserker or an Arcanist, the same few standard concepts will be the first to enter the mind. So to get an interesting game, it is necessary to put some colour on the Character by forming a unique personality.

The best way to tune into a personality, is to ask question about the Character. These question should mostly be about how the Character acts and react to everyday situations, but also what the Character likes and dislikes. Here are some examples of questions:

• What are the dreams of the Character, and what does s/he hope for the future?
• What is the Character's relationship with the family and friends?
• How does the Character act towards strangers? What if the stranger are hostile or friendly or secretive?
• What are the ethics and morals which motivates the Characters. What are the Characters moving ground for acting and reacting to his surroundings?
• Everyone have these small things that annoy them greatly, even though most people cannot see why. What is it that really gets under the Character's skin?
• What emotions can the Character express in public?
• In which situations is the Character unreasonable stubborn?
• What kind of home does the Character have and how is it decorated. If the Character do not have a home, then how would it look if s/he did?
• What style of cloth do the Character wear, and in what situations?
• What kind of music would the Character listen to; here think in terms of real world music?
• What food do the Character like? Is it home made or do the Character prefer to eat at an inn?
• If the Character has annoying traits. What are these and how do they affect others?
• What are the Character's interests and hobbies?
• What stimulates the Character and what makes him cozy and relaxed?

When the basis of the personality is in place, then try to imagine different situations and how the Character will react in these. Below are some examples of situations which the Player can play out in the mind. It may not be all the examples which are relevant for the Character, but try to go through as many as possible, and of course make up your own.

• The Character meets a old acquaintance who s/he cannot stand. This person do not know this and try to get an conversation going. How do the Character react. It turns out that this person is very friendly, and have all ways looked up to the Character, and says things like: “You was always so good at ...”, and “It was so cool when you ...”. What does the Character do now?
• The Character has a recurring dream or nightmare. How does this dream or nightmare unfold? And how does it affect the Character when awake? Try to visualize the sequences of the dream or nightmare and the Character's actions.
• The Character's first love affair; what kind of person was the object of the Character's affection? how did it turn out? Try imagine what did happen with both a positive and negative result.
• Use some time to describe the Character at the age of ten. What was the Character's social group? Where did they hang around? And what games did they play? When the Character came in trouble, what did he do?
• The Character has a lot of flaws. How much is it going to take for the Character to overcome these problems? Which situations or people could make this happen?
• If the Character has sworn loyalty towards a person who breaches some laws. How does the Character react? And what if this person asks the Character to break the same laws?
• The Character has in recent events been horridly wounded and has also lost the objective of the investigation. How does the Character feel? How does the Character express it? How does the Character recreate?
• The Character stands before King Salisbury and have the possibility of posing a single question. What would that question be? Try to imagine how the Character would feel and react, standing before the king.
• Imagine the Character has taken the life of another person for the first time. How does this affect the Character? Try to imagine the details of this situation.

It should be noted that if the answers is in the form of: “I don't care”, “I don't care”, “I properly kill him”, “I don't care”, then the Player most likely misunderstood the whole concept of role-playing in Tempestas. Many Players like to make a slick and cool Character, careless of the world in which s/he dwells. But even this kind of Characters have strings attached to reality. The lone Archer also has dreams and goals through life, for under this calm surface there is a person with intrigue and problems.

To do actual role-play there are some techniques to enforce the personality. One way is to change the voice a bit when speaking as the Character. The voice should of course fit the Character, and the Player should take care not to overdo the voice, or it will end up being comical. Just make the voice a little deeper, higher or more nasal; it does event not have to be notable. Another technique is to create an unique speech pattern for the Character. The Character may form every word with care, like tasting each syllable, or skip through a sentence barely understandable, or pause to search for the right words every second sentence. The Character may favour certain words, have recognizable catchphrases or even one liners, which is used often. Just think of some word constellation which sounds interesting to the Character.

Personal Data

After the development of the Character's background and personality. Some specific data about the Character should be written somewhere. This is data like the Character's gender, name, age, height, weight and physical profile.

Writing the Character

In the game system of Tempestas, a Character is described by a set of abilities. The most basic abilities are the Statistics, which are: Strength, Agility, Stamina, Speed, Intellect, Mind, Intuition, Notion, Charm, Willpower, Psyche and Spirit. Another part of the Character are the Skills. Where Statistics are what the body contains, the Skills are what the body can do. Skills are more complex abilities which is learned through life experience. The Feature is the last aspect of the Character to be detailed here. Features are individual traits which are fitted the Character by either nature or fate.

After deciding on a Character concept, read the Breed carefully to decide which Breed to play (the Gamemaster may limit which Breeds are available). The Player can find the start Statistic value, and extra Skills and Features under the chosen Breed. The Player must now read the Occupation chapter and decide which Occupation the character should have. The chosen Occupation will list Statistic Modifiers, which is added or subtracted to the start Statistic value. A number of Skills and Features, granted by the chosen Occupation, can also be found there.

When this data is noted, the Player has 25 Statistic points to distribute freely on the Characters Statistics. After the Player has prioritized the Statistics, the Skull rules has to be calculated. Skull rules are extra data which measures what the Statistics can be used for. The calculations and descriptions can be found in the Statistics chapter. The Skull rules for Personal Skill Add, found under Intellect and Mind, shows how many extra Skills the Player can choose.

The Player should now read through the Skill chapter, where it is possible to find the detailed descriptions of the Skills from Breed and Occupation. From there on the Player can choose the extra Skills gained from Personal Skill Add to fulfill the Character's idea and background. Here it is a matter of the Player to prioritize what are the Character's capabilities. Some would choose the path of wisdom and focus on the amount of skills, while others choose that of the brute and save Skills for upgrading their combat qualities. All Skills are associated with a Statistic, and to find the start value of a Skill just multiply the Statistic with 2 (this of course only applies to Skills from Breed, Occupation and chosen by the Player). The Player can then freely distribute 250 Skill points, plus Skull rules which dictates an extra 20 Skill points for every single Personal Skill Add. These points should be used on Breed, Occupation, self chosen Skills and combat related skills.

Features are used to personalize the Character, a unique twist which is specific for that person exactly. It is possible to choose between positive and negative Features, but a balance must be upheld between positive and negative. Positive Features must always be balanced out by negative. Another sort of Feature is that of Story, which is neither positive nor negative. The Player can use 40 Feature Points to obtain Story Features. It is not necessary for the Player to choose any Features, but it can make the Character more interesting. Please note 3 Destiny Points and 10 Practicability Points, regardless of Breed. Feel free to invent some personal Equipment, in realistic terms and note 10 Penya Crowns.

A quick look at Fighting Styles

A Fighting Style is the Character's education in combat and war. A direction of focus, centering on the learning of different kinds of weapons, the general style of use, tactics and milieu of struggle. The Fighting Style depicts a set of weapon and armour, which is easier for the Character to use. As a part of most Occupations, one or more Fighting Styles are given. Besides the Fighting Styles the Character gains from their Occupation additional can be obtained by spending 1 Skill and 20 Skill Points. Furthermore the Character's Fighting Style always starts at 1st Degree, but by spending 3 Skills and 60 Skill Points it can be raised 1 Degree.

A quick look at Arcane

Arcane is a mystical force, which is taken for given as a science of this world. The user of Arcane, An Arcanist, draws up a contract with a summoned Entity; an otherworldly creatures which dispenses the powers of Arcane. Through this contract the Arcanist gains different skills to manipulate the mystical forces of Arcane. The following is a list of Skills which the Arcanist should consider to save Skill Points for. Pronunciation Skill is used to call upon the chosen Entity. Arcane Shaping is the Arcanist's ability to shape the Raw Arcanic Powers. Arcane Activity is the Arcanist's ability to physically direct Arcane upon a target.