Character Creation

Character creation is a complex activity. Here's some rules, guidelines, and tools to help you out!

Current Campaign Level

First

Please make your character at the current campaign level.

Guidelines

Table: Ability Score Costs

Ability Score	Cost		Ability Score	Cost
8	0		12	4
9	1		13	5
10	2		14	7
11	3		15	9

Races

There are a wide number of races available, see Races page for more information.

Classes

Please see the Character Classes page for more information on class availability.

Attributes

There are two ways to determine your character's attributes. Both are described on page 13 of the Player's Handbook, and briefly here for reference.

Standard Array

You may take the standard array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.

Assign one to each of the six attributes, then add racial modifiers.

Customized

You get a total of 27 points to spend. Attributes cost the amount listed in the chart to the right.

Racial Scores adjustments are added AFTER all points are used.

Backgrounds

All backgrounds except for Noble in the Player's Handbook are available without change. An additional background, House Agent is available as well.

Permutations

With 14 available races and 12 available base character classes, at first level, there are 168 possible race/class permutations.

Six of the races have some type of variant available, known as a 'sub-race'. This adds 13 possibilities for race, bringing the total to 27. Counting these, there are 324 possible race/class permutations.

Many of the classes have choices available as well. Adding in different gods and domains, fighting styles, patrons, origins, favored stuff, etc., there are 125 possible class options.

That brings the total number of possible permutations to 3375. Add in the 12 available backgrounds, and that number jumps to 40,500, at first level.

By third level, when sub-classes have kicked in, and counting all the different possible specialization combos, you are looking at 1,395,468 possible character paths. (And that doesn't include multi-classing).

By tenth level, counting multi-classing, the available possible paths for your character to take are best noted using scientific notation.

All that to say, if you can't find something to suit your fancy at that point... talk to the DM. We can figure something out.

If that doesn't work? Run your own campaign!

Backstory Creation Guidelines

As an aid to PCs creating character backgrounds, and also for my own use, I offer the following quick method for generating characters. To create a character's background, write four sentences.

1. The first sentence is the anecdote.
   • This is any one story, fact or memory from your character's past.
     • "I grew up in Rivendell, for a time."
     • "I dumped a cargo of smuggled goods when I was about to be boarded."
     • "There's a 24-hour period in my memories that I can't account for."
2. The second sentence is the quirk.
   • This is any one fact, mannerism or detail about the character's present.
     • “I'm always investing in dodgy businesses in an attempt to make a quick buck.”
     • “I'm constantly whining about how hopeless the situation is.”
     • “I wander the forests as a crazy old hermit.”
3. The third sentence is the goal.
   • This is something that the character wishes to achieve in the future (preferably not something that can be achieved too quickly).
     • "I want to become a paladin."
     • "I want to wake everyone up, to free them from the tyranny of the machine."
     • "I want to discharge the life-debt I owe."
4. The fourth sentence is the mystery.
   • This can either be some fact about the character that he doesn't want others to know, or it could be something that the character does not know, but wants to (in which case, it should be something distinct from the goal, or else it's just repetition).
     • "I killed my best friend in a drunken rage."
     • "I want to learn the identity of my human father."
     • "I woke one day with a strange tattoo on my arm, and want to know what it is and what it means."

Gear

This campaign is geared towards a "Steampunk" level of tech and magic. Contact me with questions about specific items, if they are particularly important to your character concept. Otherwise, we are basically using starting gear as outlined in the Player's Handbook.