This chapter explains how to create a character, and describes the backgrounds and professions typical to the world.
The character sheet contains all the game information you need to know about your character. The top left hand corner contains the character's name, race etc. The other sections are described below.
[CHARACTER SHEET GOES HERE]
Lifepaths represent your character's upbringing and career prior to entering play. If you use the detailed character generation system described in the following sections, backgrounds and professions determine your starting Abilities and Connections.
Gifts represent your character's innate aptitudes. These include natural aptitudes which affect your starting Ability levels, along with any special powers or abilities.
Keys represent aspects of your character that affect the story, from personality traits to goals and motivations to deadly enemies or dark secrets.
Abilities define what your character can do. Most represent things he or she has learned in life so far, be it swordfighting,, the ability to read an ancient dead language, or knowing how a to repair a broken-down power-waggon. A few are more natural abilities, such as willpower.
Languages are the languages your character knows.
Connections define your social standing, something very important in Kalyr, where who your friends are matters as much as what you can do.
Weapons and Equipment lists the things the character owns or carries with them, along with any necessary game information about them.
Damage is a record of physical, mental and social damage suffered as a result of getting into conflicts.
Trait Levels is a reminder of the seven trait levels: from Terrible to Superb, used to define Abilities, Languages and Connections.
The first thing you need to do to create a character is to decide on a character concept. Do you want to be a lusty swordsman or woman, a clever technician, a scheming bureaucrat, or a haughty noble? Most important of all, will you be kandar or human? Discuss you ideas with your GM; he or she may find certain character concepts easier or harder to fit in the game than others. Give your character a name, and decide on his or her appearance.
After that, there are four different ways of creating your character.
The detailed character generation system is recommended for beginning players. It uses the background and profession templates that describe the sorts of characters found in the world of Kalyr. To create a character using the detailed system, follow these steps.
Choose up to four lifepath templates. Each of these will give a number of levels in Abilities and Connections. You can choose any combination of templates, four completely different ones, or the same one more than once. The only restriction is that you must choose at least one Background and at least one Profession. The templates chosen should give an outline of your character's life so far.
Choose three gifts. Like the templates, they should be reflect the character concept. If you chose fewer than four backgrounds or professions, you may take an additional two gifts or talents for each background or profession you didn't take.
Choose four keys. Like the Gifts, they should reflect the character concept.
This is an alternative character generation system, useful for players already familiar with the setting that want a less structured method, or those who want a quick and dirty way of making characters for a one-shot game.
Lifepaths are merely descriptive and aren't connected directly with Abilities; simply choose any backgrounds and professions that fit the character concept, using the associated lists of Abilities and Connections merely as guidelines.
Choose any combination of Abilities, Connections and Languages, with two at Great, three at Good, four at Fair and five at Mediocre.
Choose any three Gifts. You may take Talents (described later in this chapter) as gifts, in which case they still add one extra level to any four related Abilities. This is the only way you can start with any Superb Ability.
Choose four Keys, as in the detailed system.
Develop-in-Play takes things a stage further. Instead of defining everything important about your character before play begins, you start with a character sheet full of blanks.
As with Quick Character Generation, you start with two Greats, three Goods, four Fairs and five Mediocres in some combination of Abilities, Languages and Connections. But you only need to fill in a few of those at the start of play. You should define at least your best ability and best connection.
Start with just one Gift and one Key,
As play progresses, you can fill in the blanks as you go, until you have filled in all the blank slots. Every time you define a 'new' Abilities, Connection, Key or anything else, you must come up with a valid in-game justification.
If the GM allows it, there's nothing to stop you going a stage further, and assign any number of Abilities or Connections that are appropriate for the character concept. Since this completely abandons any mechanical methods of game balance, it's up to the GM and players to ensure characters don't get grossly overpowered.
There are a great many races in Kalyr, but the most significant races in the game are the kandar and the humans. Therefore if you're new to the world of Kalyr, your first character should be one of the those two races. With the GM's permission, it's possible for experienced players to play some of the stranger, more exotic races described in [Chapter 9], but they might be more difficult to fit into many games.
Physically, the kandar are slender humanoids, a head taller than humans, with copper coloured skin; some individuals have a purplish or even a greenish tinge to them. Compared with humans, kandar are graceful and agile, but not quite as physically tough. To human eyes their faces have a severe beauty, although human perceptions of them are tempered by their reputation of a cruel nature. Natural hair colour is pale grey, but most kandar dye their hair, and undyed grey is a sign of poverty or aesceticism. Colours change with the seasons, sometimes muted shades are 'in', other times the fashion is for lurid greens and oranges.
Kandar names have no meaning in present kandar languages, although most names have a derivation from something meaningful in Old Kandar. Full names are expressed in the form (personal name) (clan name) d'n (name of same sex parent) d'r (name of other parent) d'n (name of most illustrious grandparent). Only higher status kandar who can trace their line back to one of the fifteen clans of ancient times use the clan name, which is passed down the line of the same sex parent. Only the personal name plus the clan name is used in everyday life.
Typical Male Names: Aruimor, Atinzeth, Breyrol, Elisar, Fromthir, Iodeth, Irkovor, Ithugar, Karogeth, Kolath, Kylar, Martheyn, Murar, Narluis, Ningor, Omzaror, Reneth, Ruseyn, Ruslar, Vovir, Vrykath, Ythebyr, Zedreyr
Typical Female Names: Arkuthana, Dozrele, Enthindene, Fanata, Karela, Kleynate, Kurzele, Mudlala, Murgala, Napate, Nyrtene, Seymthata, Sylene, Tanala, Teythate, Uilfathrate, Vreyrala, Vruivana
Humans are shorter and stockier than kandar, although they're physically rather tougher. Kandar consider humans to look brutish and bestial, although humans are quite happy to look the way they do. There's a lot more variation in hair and skin colour; a visitor from today's world would find the human population to appear physically cosmopolitan, with all major racial groups represented.
Human names lack the formal system of kandar naming, and many humans get by with just a single name, qualified by something like 'son of' or 'red-headed'. There's a lot of variety in names, but they tend to be simpler.
Typical Names: Andar, Asher, Gannir, Hollis, Jaldaric, Jor, Jorlak, Keila, Kir, Klarrash, Luanu, Teleen, Zul
The Lifepath represents your character's life before starting play, from adolescence and early training to professional careers. It's made up from up to four Templates, each representing a specific background or profession. Each template represents a period of time spent in that cultural background or profession, typically a few years. They often represent consecutive periods of the character's life, such as a background representing childhood and adolescence followed by two or more professions representing adult life. Alternatively, two or more templates might have taken place in parallel, perhaps representing a character's private and professional lives, or an exotic career represented by combining two different professions.
When using the detailed character generation system, the templates chosen determine the Abilities and Connections available to your character. For each Template in your character's lifepath, you must choose a total of eight in any combination of Abilities and Connections from the associated list, representing the things he or she has learned and the contacts made during that stage of his or her life.
Each time you choose an Ability or Connection, it increases by one trait level. Abilities and Connections both start out at Poor, representing the level of an untrained or unconnected character. The first time you choose one from the list associated with the Template, it increases by one step from Poor to Mediocre. If you select the same one a second time from a subsequent Template, it increases by a further step, going from Mediocre to Fair. The third time, it will go up from Fair to Good, and so on.
The very first time you choose an Ability or Connection, you have the option of raising it straight to Fair, taking up two of your eight choices. You can only do this for two Abilties for any one stage in the Lifepath.
All characters must have at least one background, to represent the environment of their childhood years. There's nothing to stop your character having two or even three backgrounds. They can be different ones, representing someone who's either moved up (or down) the social ladder, or moved about a bit. Alternatively a character may have the same background more than once, representing a lot of time spent in the same environment.
You live, or lived, in one of the 'free human' tribes originally founded by runaway slaves. Most such people live a primitive existence as hunter/gatherers, although some are settled farmers. This is a very unlikely background for a kandar character, but quite common for humans. In a game set in a kandar city, your back story must explain why your character left their tribe. Did he or she leave seeking adventure? Or maybe exiled in disgrace? Or even captured by slavers?
Abilities: Lifting, Climbing, Running, Acrobatics, Swimming, Perception, Stealth, Survival, Agriculture, any Craft, Brawling, Armed Melee Combat (Spear), Missile Combat (Bow), Boating, Tracking.
Connections: The Tribe
You are a human who lives (or has lived) in the farmland surrounding the kandar cities. Most likely you were a slave, working the land for the kandar owner. But possibly you lived as a tenant farmer trying to earn a living on the poorest quality land on the edge of the settled area. For a game not set in farmland, your story needs to explain why you left. Did you run away, in which case your former owner might still want you back?
Abilities: Climbing, Lifting, Running, Acrobatics, Swimming, Perception, Brawling, Animal Handling, Armed Melee Combat (Pole-Arm), Human Religious Lore, Musician or Singing.
Connections: The Guild of Victuallers, The Academy of Life, a kandar clan, a human cult, or a rebel cell.
You are or were a human slave, but living in the city rather than the countryside. You might be a personal servant to a wealthy noble, privy to their innermost secrets. But you might be a lowly labourer, maybe slaving(literally) in the kitchens of a noble household or guild, or a labourer performing dirty or dangerous work for one of the guilds.
Abilities: Kandar Social Graces, Stealth, Fast-Talking, Brawling, Reading and Writing, Area Knowledge, Streetwise, Willpower, Insight, Human Religious Lore.
Connections: A kandar clan, any guild, a human cult, or a rebel cell.
You've lived in the mean streets in the worst part of the human quarter of a kandar city. The people here may be free, but at least most slaves know where their next meal is coming from. And in a city where you have no legal status if you don't belong (or are owned by) a guild or clan, you need your wits about you in order to survive. And to survive, you also need friends. Without them, you simply won't have survived for very long.
Abilities: Perception, Streetwise, Brawling, Climbing, Running, Acrobatics, Swimming, Area Knowledge, Armed Melee Combat (Knife), Stealth, Fast-Talking, Human Religious Lore
Connections: A crime syndicate, a rebel cell, a human cult.
You've been a member of one of the powerful craft guilds. If you grew up in a guild, you will have received a decent education, although it will have emphasised practical Abilities rather than high culture. A guildsman or woman has a job for life; if you serve the guild with the best of your abilities, the guild will look after you with the best of their power. Some guilds are dominated by kandar, and only permit humans hold the lowliest positions. Others, most notably the Academy of Knowledge, allow humans to reach high positions on merit. Very few ever leave a guild, and those that do often leave under more than just a cloud. Some guilds are even prepared to kill to preserve their secrets.
Abilities: Reading and Writing, Streetwise, Area Knowledge, Brawling or Kandar Fu, Any craft or technical Ability appropriate to the guild, Gambling, Thlan, any Languages.
Connections: The Guild
You were born into one of the fourteen kandar noble clans at the very top of the social pyramid. You will have received the best classical education in assorted dead languages, classical literature and ancient history, as well as the martial Abilities needed to survive the inevitable duels.
Abilities: Kandar Social Graces, Kalyr Politics, Reading and Writing, Ancient History, Kandar Literature, Kandar Religious Lore, Zarandar Riding, Yakka Riding, any Languages, Artist, Musician, Singing, Thlan, Armed Melee Combat (Fencing Blade), Dancing.
Connections: Must take at least one level in connection to the clan.
Professions represent the things you do or did for a living. You may take the same profession template up to three times, representing a lot of time doing the same thing (and honing Abilities to a high level!). Or you may take two or three different ones, either representing a character who's done different things, or a career that's a combination or more than one of these professions
Kalyr is not an extensively mechanised economy, so there's a ready demand for strong backs, the overwhelming majority of which belong to humans. Human labourer, both slaves and hired hands, toil in dirty and dangerous work, in agriculture, in construction, or any manner of unpleasant jobs in cities.
Abilities: Lifting, Perception, Climbing, Running, Acrobatics, Swimming, Brawling, Area Knowledge, Streetwise, Willpower
Connections: Any guild, human cult, or rebel cell.
The farmers of Kalyr keep the cities fed. Some manage plantations on behalf of absentee city-dwelling landlords. Others rent the land which they farm themselves. A few even own their own land, generally the least fertile bits with as much stone as soil.
Abilities: Animal Handling, Agriculture, Waggon-Driving, Perception, Simple Repair/Devise, Armed Melee Combat (Pole-Arm).
Connections: Any kandar clan, The Academy of Life, or the Guild of Victuallers.
Whether slaves forced to fight by bloodthirsty owners, or the desperate fighting for money, Kalyr has no shortage of people who fight purely for the entertainment of others. The venues range from the great arenas of Vorhleyn, Karmork and Filgeth to the illicit fighting pits in the human quarters of many cities. The life of a typical gladiator is nasty, brutish and short, since many fights are to the death. A few exceptionally talented fighters survive long enough to achieve some level of fame and fortune, and some slave gladiators eventually manage to buy their freedom.
Abilities: Performance, Brawling, Armed Melee Combat (any weapons), Dodge, Willpower
Connections: Fellow gladiators, or to an organised crime syndicate.
The rougher ends of kandar cities are full of criminal types, ranging from petty thieves and pickpockets and muggers, through housebreakers and smugglers, to more serious organised crime. Some rougher parts of kandar cities, such as Calbeyn's notorious Anthill, are effectively run by crime lords.
Abilities: Climbing, Running, Acrobatics, Swimming, Brawling, Armed Melee Combat (Knife), Missile Combat (Thrown Knife), Intimidation, Stealth, Perception, Area Knowledge, Streetwise, Fast-Talking, Breaking and Entering, Evaluate.
Connections: Any crime syndicate.
There are a great many wandering singers, musicians jugglers and travelling players who provide entertainment in the cities, usually working in inns and taverns. Few if any manage to make much money, and the kandar elite tend to look down upon them and their 'art', but one or two manage to establish some sort of reputation. While there are many solo performers, there are also many troupes of up to a dozen people. Unlike the abstract textural music of the kandar elites, human performers sing bawdy or treasonously political ballads accompanied by stringed instruments and percussion.
Abilities: Acrobatics, Acting, Musician, Dancing, Singing, Performance, Missile Combat (Thrown Knife), Juggling, Fast-Talking, Disguise, Streetwise, Gambling, Sex Appeal.
Connections: The troupe of entertainers.
The great seaport of Ravenah sends ships to many places, and the broad Fil and Cal rivers are both major trade arteries. Unfortunately, piracy is commonplace, even on rivers, so a sailor needs to know how to fight.
Abilities: Shiphandling or Riverboat Piloting, Boating, Craft (Carpentry), Perception, Climbing, Acrobatics, Swimming, Brawling or Kandar Fu, Armed Melee Combat (Knife), Lifting, Artillery.
Connections: The ship's crew
The kandar cities maintain significant standing armies, since wars are rather more common than many people would like. The elite soldiers are the eight legions, which date from the second empire, a thousand years ago. The Eight Legion, based in Ravenah, and the half of the Fifth Legion based in Calbeyn now accept humans into their ranks, but all other legions will only accept kandar. The legions take people from any background, and promotion tends to be on merit rather than social rank, at least most of the time. During times of war, the armies are swelled by auxiliaries, many of them press-ganged, most with poorer training and equipment, and to many of them used as cannon fodder.
Abilities: Perception, Willpower, Armed Melee Combat (Broadsword and Shield), Brawling or Kandar Fu, Missile Combat (Flamelance), Missile Combat (Crossbow), Armed Melee Combat (Pole-Arm), Animal Handling, Power-Waggon Driving, Waggon-Driving, Leadership, First Aid, Survival, Strategy, Lifting, Artillery.
Connections: The Legion
All crafters in kandar cities belong to a small number of powerful guilds, each of which includes a large number of trades. The Guild of Victuallers covers every trade connected with the manufacture of food or drink, from cheesemaking to brewing. The Guild of Making manufacture everything portable, from clothing to furniture to weapons. The Guild of Construction build anything too large to carry, most specifically buildings and vehicles. Of course, the vast majority of craftsmen and women will specialise in a specific trade. The guilds are dominated by kandar, but the guilds of many cities admit humans, although few if any reach the rank of master.
Abilities: Any Crafts, Evaluate, Bargaining, Simple repair/devise, Lifting, Reading and Writing.
Connections: The guild.
The Academy of Knowledge is a specialised guild that preserves what remains of the technology of the Kandar. They maintain workshops in every Kandar city, which are the sole source of any complex mechanical or electrical devices, from firearms to powered vehicles to electric lighting. The means of producing or repairing anything technological is a jealously guarded secret, and the organisation has no qualms about using violence to protect its monopoly power. Two other things of note about them; firstly, they make great effort to keep completely out of the constant political intrigues and disputes in Kandar cities. Secondly, they are one of the few organisations in Kalyr where Kandar and humans work together on more or less equal terms.
Abilities: Mechanical Repair, Electrical Repair, Power Waggon-Driving, Missile Combat (Lightning Wand), Missile Combat (Flamelance), Technical Devices, Language (Zurglauzic), Vyrn-Making, Artillery, Reading and Writing, and Natural Science.
Connections: The Academy of Knowledge
Psionic powers occur naturally in a minority of the population, both kandar and human. In all but a few cases, the powers of the mind cannot be controlled properly without training from an early age The main organisation for training wizards is the long-established Academy of the Mind, an guild of psis that has a chapter in almost every city. There are a few smaller local associations of psis that remain outside the Academy, and there are a few independent lone wizards, who occasionally take apprentices. Both of the latter are regarded with considerable suspicion by members of the Academy.
Abilities: Any Psionic Abilities, Willpower, Research, Psionic Theory, Kandar Social Graces, Perception, Research, Reading and Writing, and Natural Science. No more than half the levels can go on Psionic Abilities.
Connections: Academy of the Mind, or to a smaller independent group
The size and power of the guilds mean they've developed extensive bureaucracies, and the senior masters of each guild in a city are very powerful political figures. They're responsible for internal discipline, resolving internal disputes, and handling relations with other guilds. A good guild administrator has to be part bureaucrat, part lawyer, and part diplomat.
Abilities: Kalyr Law, Kalyr Politics, Bureaucracy, Diplomacy, Bargaining, Evaluate, Reading and Writing, Kandar Social Graces, Leadership.
Connections: The guild.
Most of Kalyr doesn't have anything resembling a police force, so the guilds are responsible for their own law enforcement, and each guild has it's own security arm. Guild security are mostly concerned with protecting guild property and personnel, guarding buildings and acting as bodyguards. But occasionally they can find themselves involved in detective work where a crime against the guild has been committed. In extreme circumstances, guild security can even embark on what amount to small-scale military operations against some group that threatens the guild's interests.
Abilities: Perception, Intimidation, Insight, Stealth, Streetwise, Kandar Social Graces, any combat Abilities
Connections: The guild.
Most Kandar cities don't have large bureaucracies, since the guilds take responsibility for day to day running of things. This doesn't mean there's no government at all, since someone has to resolve disputes with occasionally break out between the guilds. This template covers anything from a low level bureaucrat to the ruler of a small city,
Abilities: Bureaucracy, Kalyr Politics, Kandar Social Graces, Reading and Writing, Diplomacy, Insight, Kalyr Law, Leadership, Research, Oratory.
Connections: The City Government. May additionally have connections to any other organisation, typically a clan or a guild, but some administrators have links with temples, or with organised crime syndicates. A popular ruler may even have a level of connection or two to the city itself, representing popularity with the people as a whole.
Guardianspeakers are the priests of Kalyr. The communicate with The Guardians with the aid of devices known as 'oracles', and relay the Guardians' words to the common people. In a world where the gods are very real, who can and do intervene directly in the affairs of mortals, their priests are important and influential people. Each guardianspeaker devotes his or her life to service of a particular guardian.
Abilities: Kandar Religious Lore, Performance, Oratory, Leadership, Insight, Research, Ancient History, Kandar Social Graces, Reading and Writing, Language (Old Kandar), Kalyr Politics.
Connections: The temple, the body of worshippers, and the actual Guardian.
Knights are the spiritual heirs of the ancient warrior orders dating from the times of darkness, and claim to be descended from similar orders from the time of the Golden Empire, trained in single combat. They split into two types, clan knights and temple knights. The former are the military wing of the kandar nobility, charged with protecting their clan against threats external and internal, and membership is naturally restricted to the noble clan in question. Temple knights are attached to temples, protect the temple and the priests, and sometimes go out to smite the guardian's enemies. There's a great rivalry between temple and clan knights, with templars considering clan knights to be effete poseurs, and clan knights regarding their temple counterparts as either dangerous fanatics or meddling do-gooders depending on the guardian they serve. Both kinds of knight look down upon the soldiers of the legions.
Abilities: Armed Melee Combat (Broadsword), Kandar Fu, Dodge, Perception, Kandar Social Graces, Kandar Religious Lore, Fast-Draw, Zarandar Riding, Willpower, Reading and Writing.
Connections: The Clan (for a Clan Knight) or the temple (for a Temple Knight)
Music and art are important to high class kandar life, and talented artists, musicians and singers can earn both a comfortable living and gain considerable fame.
Kandar art is almost entirely abstract. Paintings contain random swirls of colour, and sculptures tend to be equally weird. Realistic portraits and landscapes are virtually unknown. Any human artist who attempts such a work becomes the subject of much ridicule, while no kandar would even think of doing such a thing.
Classical kandar music prefers sounds and textures to melody. A typical composition is performed by either large orchestras of wind or stringed instruments or equally vast choirs. The music sung by the choirs has no words. There are some works composed entirely for percussion. All classical kandar musical forms are very conservative, and have been much the same for centuries. Despite this, there are very few standard works, and many hundreds of similar-sounding works by many different composers are performed. Many of the best choirs and orchestras are sponsored by the temples of Esala, the patron guardian of the arts.
Abilities: Artist, Performance, Singing, Musician, Dancing, Reading and Writing, Kandar Social Graces, Evaluate, Sex Appeal. You may take up to two levels in any individual Ability.
Connections: A clan, the Temple of Esala, or the Academy of Knowledge (who are a major buyer of artwork)
There is much political intrigue in kandar cities, especially in Ravenah or parts of the Great Empire. Wherever you find intrigue you will find spies. And sometimes rivalries and feuds get out of hand and become murderous, providing employment for professional assassins. Many spies or assassins are agents working for their city or guild. Others might be are members of powerful crime syndicates, or fanatical members of obscure religious cults. There are also freelancers working solely for financial gain. Freelance assassins tend to come from either a military or criminal background.
Abilities: Acting, Area Knowledge, Crossbow, Missile Combat (Lightning Wand), Armed Melee Combat (Knife), Disguise, Fast-Talking, Stealth, Kandar Social Graces, Poisons, Streetwise, Willpower, Sex Appeal, any Language.
Connections: Any guild, cult or crime syndicate.
While there are healers that rely on psionic healing powers, there are many more that rely on more mundane medical arts. Chief amongst them are the healers of the Temples of Valarna (most of which are also priestesses) . In rougher areas one can find quite a few 'street doctors'. While quite a few might be quacks and charlatans, there are still plenty of people with real Ability and knowledge.
Abilities: Diseases, Fast-Talking, First-Aid, Insight, Kandar Social Graces, Streetwise, Poisons, Reading and Writing, Research.
Connections: The Temple of Valarna, or to regular patients..
The merchants guild controls trade between kandar cities, and it's tentacles reach further than the rule of kandar lords into human and zughru lands. Unlike other guilds with their rigid hierarchies in each city, the merchants are divided into many companies, who compete quite ruthlessly with each other.
Abilities: Bargaining, Evaluate, Bureaucracy, Waggon-Driving, Power-Waggon Driving, Kalyr Law, Reading and Writing, Area Knowledge, any Languages.
Connections: A merchant Company, The Merchant's Guild, or any other organisation representing customers.
Abilities represent the things your character can do. This game doesn't make a distinction between innate attributes and learned skills; they're all treated in exactly the same way. While a few are clearly one or the other, many more are a bit of both. All Abilities are rated on the seven-level trait scale.
Terrible: Somebody that lacks both aptitude and experience for the Ability in question.
Poor: An average person with no training for a skill, or someone that's significantly worse than average in an innate ability. Any ability that's not listed on your character sheet can be assumed to be Poor.
Mediocre: The level of an average person after some practice in a skill, or a talented beginner.
Fair: The minimum level at which someone could earn a living from the Ability.
Good: The level of an experienced professional.
Great: Stands out even amongst professionals.
Superb: The level of a widely recognised master or expert.
The following Ability list is not intended to be an exhaustive list. If you can't find the Ability you're looking for, you can define a new one.
Artist: The ability to express oneself in an artistic medium such as painting and sculpture. Kandar art is almost exclusively abstract in form, portraiture is almost unknown. This ability can be used to create works or art, and can also be used to appraise the work of another artist.
Musician: The ability to play a musical instrument, such as the seven-stinged zathur, wind instruments such as the shavark, various percussion pieces, or the strange technological kzalth. Each family of instruments is a separate ability, so someone skilled in the zathur would be able to play the related nine-string narzthur or the smaller nirzthur.
Singing: The ability to sing well in an accepted style. Formal kandar singing, and popular human singing are separate Abilities.
Performance: The ability to entertain an audience, whether by speaking, singing, or playing. It covers the 'showmanship' side of things; a good tavern performer can win over an audience even if his or her singing and musical Ability isn't up to much.
Juggling: Anyone can keep three balls in the air. Five or six balls, or knives, flaming torches or live animals is another question. Not, of course, considered a serious art by educated kandar nobles, but a common Ability for lower class entertainers.
Acrobatics: This ability covers such things as jumping, tumbling and breakfalls. It's what you need to see if you can jump out of that third storey window without suffering injury, or jump that yawning chasm without falling to your doom.
Climbing: The ability to climb cliffs and walls.
Dancing: Ability at the complex and intricate moves of formal kandar dance.
Endurance: The ability to keep up a strenuous activity for a long period of time.
Lifting: The ability to lift of heavy objects. Fair ability allows you to lift a man-sized object, each level above fair multiples this by 1.5, and each level below divides by 2/3. This Ability also determines the amount you can carry.
Running: Covers running over short distances, and determines the speed at which you can run. It's typically used for chases.
Swimming: If your swimming Ability is only poor, it means you can only tread water.
Yakka Riding: Riding the fast but ill-tempered riding animal, the yakka. Poor ability is enough to get from A to B on a straight and level road without falling off, but a higher ability will be needed if you're in a hurry, or trying to fight while mounted.
Zarandar Riding: Riding the most common riding beast of Kalyr, the zarandar.
Armed Melee Combat: The Ability of using a weapon in hand-to-hand combat. Each combination of weapon and style is a separate Ability; for instance, fighting with a sword and shield is not the same Ability as fighting with just a sword. It's possible for a character skilled in using one weapon to use a similar weapon, at a penalty to his or her Ability.
Artillery: The use of the large fixed energy weapons mounted on buildings or vehicles.
Brawling: Represents the rough-and-ready unarmed combat typically practised by humans, sacrificing finesse for brutal effectiveness. No kandar would stoop to learning such unrefined and vulgar techniques.
Dodge: The Ability of not getting hit in combat. It includes avoiding missile fire; this doesn't mean that you can literally dodge arrows or beams, more the ability to get out of the line of fire before before being shot.
Fast Draw: The ability to draw a weapon to hand quickly, before your opponent does! In a fight between two characters armed with missile weapons, the fighter that draws his or her weapon first is quite likely to win the fight.
Kandar Fu: Represents the complex unarmed martial arts practised by kandar warriors. It's difficult but not impossible for humans to learn most of these moves.
Military Tactics: Covers the knowledge gained from fighting as part of a small group, rather than in single combat. It covers things such as setting up ambushes, planning attacks and defending buildings or encampments.
Missile Combat: The Ability of using a missile weapon in combat. Like Armed Melee Combat, each weapon is treated as a separate Ability, which covers the basic care and maintenance of the weapon as well actually using the weapon to shoot with.
Ancient History: Covers knowledge of the many centuries of kandar history, and of the wonders of ancient times.
Area Knowledge: Knowledge of any single city (each city is a separate Ability). Lets you recognise 'important people', tells you which are the best inns and taverns, which part of the city to avoid at night, where that alleyway goes, etc.
Human Religious Lore: Knowledge of the religious beliefs and practices of the various human cults and sects. You might use this Ability to identify a cult, pass oneself off as a member of a cult, or recognise a would-be cultist is an imposter.
Kalyr Law: The detailed workings of Kalyr law and legal procedure, pretty essential for an administrator that needs to resolve disputes.
Kalyr Politics: Knowledge of how the kandar political system works, and the names and personalities of major political figures throughout Kalyr.
Kandar Literature: Knowledge of the great classics of kandar literature, ignorance of which may well mark you out as an uncultured lout.
Kandar Religious Lore: Knowledge of the Kandar religious teachings and rituals.
Natural Science. Kalyr doesn't really have a scientific world-view; whatever sciences originally produced Kalyr's technology have largely been forgotten, and modern sciences such as physics, chemistry or biology don't really exist any more. This Ability represents what bits of science remain.
Psionic Theory: An understanding of the what is known about the nature of psionic powers. You don't actually need to have psionic powers yourself to learn this Ability, although it's both easier and more useful of you do.
Reading and Writing: The ability to read and write. If your Ability is Poor, you're illiterate. Mediocre Ability represents semi-literacy, Fair Ability represents full literacy. Higher Ability levels make you a Good or Great writer! When reading or writing in a language other than your native language, use whichever is the lower of your Reading and Writing Ability and your Ability in the language.
Research: The ability to find information from a library of archives.
First Aid: Covers the basic treatment of battlefield (or other) injuries, such as cleaning and bandaging of wounds.
Diseases: The diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Poisons: Knowledge of the effect, antidotes and treatment of poisons. It should be evident that there are characters other than doctors who might want to learn this Ability!
Veterinary: The treatment and diagnosis of illnesses and injuries for common domesticated animals.
Breaking and Entering: The ability to get inside buildings without the owner's consent. Covers breaking holes in roofs, identifying weak spots, or removing windows from their frames. Doesn't include lockpicking; that's covered by Locksmith.
Disguise: The ability to disguise either oneself or another person.
Stealth : The ability to hide in available cover, either in an urban or rural environment, and to move quietly enough to be able to creep up to something or someone without been seen or heard.
Survival: The ability to live off the land, away from the so-called security of the kandar cities. Covers such things as finding water and shelter, avoiding dangerous wild animals, and knowing which plants are safe to eat, and which are poisonous.
Tracking: The ability to follow tracks, whether of people or of animals, and to cover one's own trail.
Agriculture: The practicalities of planting and growing crops.
Animal Handling: Dealing with common domesticated animals, an essential Ability for any stable-hand who doesn't want to get disembowelled by an angry yakka.
Bureaucracy: See under Social Abilities
Craft Abilities: The ability to make things, or appraise the work of another craftsman. Each craft is a separate Ability, from Architecture to Basket-weaving to Cooking, since there are too many crafts to list each one
Electrical Repair: The Ability of maintaining and repairing the electrical and electronic components of the Academy of Knowledge's machines.
Evaluate: The merchant's Ability at assessing the value of something. While an artist or craftsman can appraise something within their own field, a merchant needs to evaluate a wide range of different goods.
Locksmith: The making and breaking of locks; this Ability obviously is useful in dishonest professions.
Mechanical Repair: The Ability of maintaining and repairing the mechanical components of more complex technological devices made by the Academy of Knowledge
Simple Repair/Devise: The Ability of making basic repairs to machines at the lower levels of technology, and the construction and disarming of devices like traps.
Strategy: The ability to plan and execute battle plans at a level above that of an individual squad.
Technical Devices: Covers knowledge of the technological devices made and used by the Academy of the Mind. Use this Ability to operate any device, identify any common device, or figure out what an unknown device is supposed to do.
Vyrn-Making: The secret of making the substance vyrn, a strong, light and workable material that can be used in place of metal for making tools, weapons and armour.
Acting: The ability to impersonate someone else convincingly.
Bargaining: The ability to bargain, haggle and negotiate.
Bureaucracy: The ability to deal with or to run and organise a part of large structured organisation.
Diplomacy: The ability to resolve disputes, or to persuade someone to come round to your way of thinking without deception or threat.
Fast-Talking: The ability to fool people with clever words, even if you're lying.
Gambling: Represents Ability and knowledge of games of chance.
Insight: The Ability of reading someone body language in a social situation; useful to tell if someone is lying, or to tell whether or not they've believed your lies!
Intimidation: Influencing someone by the threat of force.
Kandar Social Graces: The ability to get along in the social minefield of kandar high society.
Leadership: The ability to lead and inspire a group of followers.
Oratory: The ability to sway and influence a large group of people though your words.
Sex Appeal: The ability to flirt with and charm members of the opposite sex.
Streetwise: The ability to get along in rough company without getting oneself into serious trouble.
Thlan: Knowledge of the tactics of the popular board game of that name. Although the basic moves are simple, the tactics and strategies can be extremely complex.
Boating: Manoeuvring small one or two man rowing boats and canoes.
Power-Waggon Driving: Driving one of the Power-Waggons built and maintained by the Academy of Knowledge.
Riverboat Piloting: Piloting a large vessel on one of Kalyr's many navigable rivers. This Ability covers both Karazthan-built powered vessels and those pulled by Glethnu.
Shiphanding: Piloting a sea-going sailing ship.
Waggon-Driving: Driving an animal-drawn waggon or coach.
These are as much innate abilities as learned Abilities.
Deduction: The ability to apply logic and reasoning to available facts and draw conclusions. This ability is useful when the players are stuck for ideas; a suitably high roll against this ability will earn a clue of some kind from GM.
Perception: The ability to notice things, such as someone trying to hide from you.
Willpower: A measure of mental toughness, used to resist mundane influence Abilities like sex appeal or intimidation, or to resist psionic powers affecting the mind.
Languages are really a type of Ability, rated on the same seven-level scale. All characters have one native language, which they get at Fair rather than the usual Poor for free, unless you have a Key that reduces it.
Terrible: You don't just not understand the language, you have no clue what language it is.
Poor: You still can't understand a word, but you have a chance at guessing what language it's in.
Mediocre: You can just about understand and express basic concepts, and have a thick accent. You can be Mediocre in your own native language, representing a character who's not very bright.
Fair: You speak and understand the language as well as an average native speaker. If it's not you native language, you still have a noticeable accent, but can be perfectly understood.
Good: You vocabulary marks you out as well-educated. If not a native speaker, you have no strong accent.
Great: At this level, you probably have a career as an orator or poet.
Superb: As above, except you're at the top of that career.
Old Kandar: The is the ancient kandar tongue of the old days of the first empire, and the ancestral tongue all modern kandar languages are derived from. It is no longer used in everyday speech, but still used in religious rituals, and for official treaties and the like. Still taught to most educated kandar, and is now more often written than spoken.
Filgan: The language spoken in the northern kandar nations of Narylar, Filgeth and Calbeyn, also spoken as a first language by many human in these cities.
Vohrran: The language spoken throughout the Great Empire of Vohrleyn. Almost all kandar speak it as either a first or second language.
Konaic: The official language of the Konaic empire, spoken in Karmork and the surrounding area but little used elsewhere. Even the Konaic empire has a Vohrran-speaking majority in it's southern provinces.
Kasiran: The language of the kandar living in the remote desert nation of Kasir, and spoken by very few other kandar.
Kavanish: An old language from the city of Kavarnak, which was destroyed centuries ago in the Doomwar. Spoken by a few kandar in Valgar and Keylin. It's probably more use in deciphering ancient documents than for any other purpose.
Kelban: The official language of the remote Isle of Kelbers. It's much closer to Old Kandar than any other modern Kandar language. A few Ravenans speak it as a second language.
Mannish: A corrupted form of old human languages with many Filgan and Vohrran words. Spoken by all lower-class humans. Also the main language in the assorted 'free' communities.
Old Tongues: This is not a single language, but a collective name for the various ancient languages spoken in corrupted forms, especially among the free peoples. Some of these languages Very few such languages have been documented by kandar scholars.
Old Zughru: The ancestral zughru language, which is no longer spoken. It's used far less by zughru than Old Kandar is by kandar, so it's mainly of value to read ancient zughru texts. For this reason it's read by a few kandar academics in written form only.
Rhukhadhic: The language used by the southern zughru in the underground kingdom of Rhukadh. There is a small amount of trade to and from Rhukadh, so a few kandar and human traders may pick up a little of this tongue.
Zurglauzic: The language used by the northern zughru in the mountains of Zurglauz. The remoteness and reclusiveness of the Zurglauz zughru means that very few humans or kandar are likely to learn this tongue.
Sssraa: This is the language of the reptilian race of that name, difficult for either humans or kandar to pronounce due to differently shaped mouths. There are a great many different dialects exist, some of which are so different as to be virtually separate languages. None of these dialects have any known written forms, unless the Sssraa are very good at keeping it's existence a secret. There is little reason for any city dweller, kandar or human to learn this language, but members of free human tribes living in close proximity to Sssraa communities may learn a few words of the tongue.
Ulmish: The native language of the diminutive and enigmatic Uleem. Written Ulmish is difficult to learn because it uses a different alphabet from the languages of the kandar and zughru. Uleem dwelling in kandar cities usually speak one of the kandar languages and/or Mannish, and only ever use Ulmish in private. It is very rare indeed for a kandar or human to learn this language.
Vordral Tongues: Like the Old Tongues of humans, this is not a single language, but the name given to the various corrupt dialects of old kandar spoken by the deformed and bestial vordral peoples. Few if any vordral can write, so these languages don't have commonly accepted written forms.
Connections define your social standing, something very important in Kalyr, where who your friends are matters as much as what you can do. You can have a connection to just about anything, from a powerful guild or clan to single influential individual or a group of close friends who watch each other's backs. They use the same seven-level scale as Abilities; the level represents a combination of the strength of the character's relationship with the group, and the power and influence of the group itself, as in the examples below.
Terrible: Whoever they are, they actively dislike you, and are more likely to hinder than to help you.
Poor: You mean nothing to the group at all. Your connection to any person or group not listed on the character sheet is Poor.
Mediocre: You are an apprentice to a guild, a trusted retainer to a clan, a legion recruit, a member of a street gang, or something equivalent.
Fair: You are a guild journeyman, priest, knight, junior legion officer, head of minor crime syndicate
Good: You're a minor noble, guild master, legion officer, senior priest, major crime lord.
Great: You're a clan elder, legion commander, senior guildmaster of a city, senior city administrator.
Superb: You're head of a major clan, ruler of major city, worldwide guild leader.
It's equally possible to have a connection with an individual rather than group; in this case the level of the connection reflects a combination of the power and influence of the individual, and the strength of the connection. For instance, a Mediocre connection might mean you havea guild journeyman as a drinking buddy. A Good connection might mean that you're a close relative of the guildmaster, and might be able to expect some significant favours.
If Abilities define what your character can do, Keys define what your character is. Keys cover a character's personality and motivations, or elements from their backstory that can affect events during the game. Many Keys are faults or disadvantages, such as disabilties, character flaws or enemies, but Keys can also be more positive traits such as ambitions or strong moral codes.
Keys neither cost nor give you any bonuses at character creation time. Instead, each time a Key comes up during the course of the game, you gain a fudge point as specified in the Key's description. These may be events initiated by the GM, such as your Deadly Enemy turning up and causing grief. Or you might get a point for appropriate roleplaying of an ethical restriction or character flaw.
You should take the same number of keys as the starting number of lifepaths, typically four. Athough you don't need to tie each one of a lifepath, all of them should make sense with regards to your character's background and personality. A character's Keys should define as character as much as his or her Abilities.
There are three broad categories of Key. Not every key will fit neatly into these categories, and some can be a mixture of more than one. For a well-rounded character, try to select at least one key of each type.
Backstory elements: Things like Dark Secret or Deadly Enemy, these are things the GM can use to drive the story forward.
Personality Traits: Things like Violent or Tolerant, they define how you roleplay your character.
Goals and Motivations: For example, Mystery or Vengeance, the things your character cares about, and are the things you the player use to drive the story forward.
Complementary keys work well; sometimes you can hit two or even three keys with the same action, and collect Fudge points for all of them. Got In Love, and Violent? Challenge a rival suitor to a duel!
Conflicting keys are good too; you'll earn a Fudge point if they come into conflict regardless of which course of action you follow. Nothing like a good moral dilemma to make an entertaining story.
Dramatic characters change over time, and their Keys can change. At any time in the game, you can buy off a key by performing the buyoff action described for each Key. You immediately gain five Fudge points, but the key is permenantly lost. You can never take the same key again, or any key closely resembling it. Your character has just undergone a major life-changing event, and can't go back.
The following keys are just examples; you are encouraged to come up with your own.
Someone's out to get you. This could represent the fallout from a feud, a deadly rivalry, or someone you've harmed who wants to get even. They may be trying to kill or capture you, or they may conspire to frustrate your plans. Gain a Fudge Point every time your deadly enemy and your character are present in the same scene, and whenever your enemy directly or indirectly frustrutes your plans or causes harm.
Buyoff: Either achieve a reconciliation, or permenantly defeat your enemy
Either you're leading a double life, or you have a skeleton in your closet. If the secret comes out, it might cause anything from severe social embarrassment (which can be a very bad thing in many circles), to risking being hunted down and killed. Gain a Fudge Point every time you have to take action in order to protect the secret.
Buyoff: The secret is exposed and becomes common knowledge.
You have a duty to someone or something more powerful that you, and are expected to follow orders in a way that goes beyond a mere job. This is very common in Kalyr; practically every 'adventuring type' will have a duty towards someone. It's mandatory for a serving legionnaire, a knight or a member of guild security. Gain a Fudge point every time you're given an order. Gain a second point if that order is to do something dangerous or distasteful.
Buyoff: Leave the service of whatever organisation you had a duty to.
You are responsible for another character, most likely an NPC, such as a relative or lover. Gain a Fudge Point whenever that character is present in the same scene as your character, and whenever your dependant is endangered in some way.
Buyoff: You dependant dies, leaves you, or becomes powerful enough no longer to need your protection.
You may be blind, dead, lame, one-legged or suffer from some other similar disability. You must define precisely how your chosen disability restricts you. Gain a Fudge Point every time you're seriously inconvenienced by this disability.
Buyoff: Your disability is healed in some way.
You're addicted to something, be it alcohol, exotic Kasiran spices, or some of the strange drugs that enhance psionic powers. You must define exactly what the subject of your addition does, and what happens if you start suffering withdrawal symptoms. Gain a Fudge Point every time your addiction causes you serious problems, whether it's the affect of the substance itself, or the lengths you have to go to procure a supply.
Buyoff: You manage to go cold turkey and defeat your addiction
You're as straight as a die. You don't lie, cheat or steal, and will always obey the law or guild rules. Gain a Fudge point when you go to great lengths to achieve your goal without taking the short-cut of lying or breaking the law. Gain another one if this brings you into conflict with another character.
Buyoff: Break the law, lie, cheat, steal, or preferably all of them.
As a kandar noble, you value your clan above all else. You take a strong line against anyone that tries to harm the clan, either from without or from within. Such individuals must be punished. Gain a Fudge point for avenging an insult against the clan from someone outside the clan, or for punishing a clan member who's behaviour brings the clan into disrepute. Gain a second point if you suffer harm as a result; if you challenge someone to a duel, sometimes you lose.
Buyoff: Deliberately allow some offence to go unpunished.
Although you're a kandar noble, you're not held in very high regard by your clan. You're not exactly an outcast, but your name is still mud. In addition, you roll at -1 whenever you need to roll against your connection to the clan. Gain a Fudge point whenever you're publically snubbed by a member of your own clan, or whenever you fail a Connections roll by 1.
Buyoff: Make amends for whatever it was that gave you such a bad reputation.
You've dedicated your life to the service of one of The Guardians, and live your life according to the values promoted by that Guardian. This Key is independent of any Duty either to the temple or the Guardians themselves; priests or knights should take one of both of those keys as well. Gain a Fudge point every time you invoke the Guardian's name to justify a course of action that's consistant with the Guardian's values.
Buyoff: Renounce the Guardian.
You're a member of human religious cult, and live according to the cult's teachings. This key is independent of any Duty or Dark Secret; if you're an assassin for an illegal cult, feel free to take those two Keys as well. Gain a Fudge point every time you attempt to recruit another into your cult, or your association with the cult causes you harm.
Buyoff: Leave the cult, and renounce their teachings.
You don't believe in using violence to solve problems. Gain a Fudge point whenever you come up with a non-violent solution to a problem that could have been resolved with a fight. Gain a second fudge point if you suffer serious harm as a result of not fighting.
Buyoff: Wade into conflict.
You have a rather exaggerated view of your own abilities. You don't believe you'll fail at any task, no matter how difficult. Gain a Fudge point when you attempt something beyond your ability (which you cannot spend on the Abilty roll for the attempt!). Gain another if you fail disastrously.
Buyoff: Refuse to do attempt something dangerous that that has a difficulty greater than your Ability.
You prefer to action to talk and tend to rush into things without wasting time on planning. Gain a Fudge Point every time you rush into something without proper planning. Gain a second if it all goes pear-shaped as a result.
Buyoff: Spend time carefully planning something, and see your plans succeed.
You really don't care if you live or die, and this manifests itself in what looks like suicidal bravery. Gain a Fudge point every time you perform some risky action where the worst possible outcome is death. Gain two Fudge points if the risk of death is significant.
Buyoff: Refuse to take a serious risk because you have something to live for.
You see violence as the solution to every known problem. Gain a Fudge point every time you get into a fight. Gain a second if you get into a one-to-one fight with an opponent with a higher combat Ability than yours, or you escalate a situation to a fight which other player characters wanted to solve non-violently.
Buyoff: Resolve a potentially violent confrontation without a fight.
You don't necessarily see violence as the solution to every problem, but when you do resort to violence, you don't hold back. Gain a Fudge Point every time you kill an opponent by any means. Gain a second if this results in serious repercussions (like being wanted for murder)
Buyoff: Spare the life of a defeated enemy that deserved to die.
You like carousing. If there's a party in town, you'll be there. Gain a Fudge point every time you go to some kind of enthusiastic social gathering. Gain a second if you get into an interesting conflict when you're there.
Buyoff: There's a party in town, and you decide not to go to it.
You have a serious weakness for members of the opposite sex (or the same sex, if you're that way inclined). Gain a Fudge point every time you make a pass at someone. Gain a second if a conflict develops as a result.
Buyoff: Settle down in a permenant monomamous relationship, or become a confirmed celebate.
You like to push people around, just because you can. Gain a Fudge point whenever you harm someone physically or socially weaker than yourself. Gain a second if this triggers a conflict; perhaps your victim had powerful friends?
Buyoff: Come to the aid of someone weaker than yourself.
You always back away from violent conflict. This isn't the same thing as being non-violent; you avoid fights not because you find violence distasteful, but because it's scary. Gain a Fudge point every time you back down or run away from a confrontation.
Buyoff: Leap into combat.
Most kandar have a low opinion of humans, and many humans return the compliment. This Key is reserved for those who really hate the other races; the sorts of people who dream or plan racial wars of extermination. Unfortunately this attitude is all too common. This is probably inappropriate for a character in a mixed party of kandar or humans, and some GMs may not want players to play violent racists. Gain a Fudge Point for harming another character purely because of their race.
Buyoff: Come to the aid of a character of another race.
You don't have the low-level intolerance found in most Kandar or the low-level resentment found in many humans. You genuinely treat all races as equal. This sort of behaviour may well cause problems when dealing with the more intolerant types that are all too common. Gain a Fudge point whenever you treat a character of another race as an equal in the face of social convention. Gain another one if you get into trouble as a result.
Buyoff: Harm another character purely because of their race.
You have no aptitude for one or more whole categories of Abilities. Your default in these Abilities is Terrible rather than the usual Poor. This doesn't affect any Abilities you actually have ranks in. Gain a Fudge Point whenever you have to attempt using your Terrible ability, regardless of whether you fail or succeed.
Buyoff: Train in the Abilities you were incompetant at.
There's something you fear, which can make you behave irrationally when faced with it. You must defining precisely what it is that you fear. Gain a Fudge Point when you avoid doing what you really have to do because of your fear, or when you have to face your fear, and things go wrong.
Buyoff: Face your fear, and overcome it.
You've been wronged by some individual or group, and want to get back at them. Gain a Fudge point every time you commit some act that harms that individual or group. Gain an additional point if you you do them serious harm such as major damage to reputation or loss of property.
Buyoff: Decide that you've harmed then enough, and let them go.
You're determined to solve a mystery. The mystery may well concern you directly, although it doesn't have to be. Gain a Fudge Point every time you spend time attempting to find clues. Gain a second one if you actually find a significant clue.
Buyoff: Solve the mystery
You're in love with another character, who may be an NPC or a player character, who as yet has not reciprocated. Gain a Fudge point every time you make an attempt to win their love.
Buyoff: Win their love, or reject them.
You're ambitious for power, and are prepared to tread on others to get it. Gain a Fudge point every time you discredit a rival,or gain favour at their expense. Gain a second point if you do serious harm to a rival, such as getting them killed or digraced.
Buyoff: Relinquish your position.
A Gift is any advantage, ability or power that can't be defined as a Ability or a Connection. Those listed below are merely examples; players are encouraged to come up with their own.
When you hit someone in melee combat, whether unarmed or with a weapon, it hurts the target a lot. This might be a consequence of physical strength (In which case it goes well with the Well-Built or Athletic talents) Or maybe it's because you have an instinct for hitting your target precisely where it hurts. Either way, every time you hit an opponent, you do +1 damage. You may take this gift twice, for a +2 bonus. See the game mechanics chapter for more details.
You have an instinctive ability with one specific weapon (for example, knife, Narvork sword, flamelance). Any successful attack does +2 damage (which stacks with Extra Damage; if you have both, add the bonuses together). If you have more than one combat skill for that weapon, the +2 bonus applies to all of them. In addition, you many substitute your weapon skill for any non-combat skill when using that weapon in some way, subject to common sense.
You have greater than average ability to soak up physical damage. Every time someone hits you in either melee or missile combat, subtract 1 from the damage. See the game mechanics chapter for more details. You may take this gift twice, to subtract 2 from damage.
The strength of your personality and reputation means that verbal barbs and insults from you hurt a lot. In any social contest, all +1 to any social damage inflicted. You may take this Gift twice, for +2 damage.
Your personality and social reputation is tough, and nothing sticks. Subtract 1 from any damage inflicted on you in a social contest. You can take this gift twice, to subtract 2 from damage.
Your wounds heal twice as rapidly as an average person.
Wounds have less effect on you; you don't suffer the usual -1 penalty when Hurt, and only suffer -1 rather than -2 when Very Hurt.
You can see far better than the average person in poor lighting conditions, and have much reduced penalties for poor light in any Ability use. You still can't see anything in complete darkness.
Any time you (the player) announce that your character does something the GM considers to be a really stupid thing to do in the circumstances, he or she must ask you to make a roll against the most appropriate ability. A roll of fair or better means you thought better of it, and didn't actually do it.
You need to take at least one psionic gift in order to use any psionic powers. These gifts are described in Chapter 4
This is also described in detail in chapter 4, but is a very useful gift for characters that don't have any psionic powers
You have access to better stuff than is normal for someone of your social position, most likely it's because you're more wealthy than average. All your connections are at +1 for the purposes of obtaining equipment. This includes starting equipment.
You've inherited (or maybe just found) something valuable. You may begin play with one item of equipment that requires connections two levels above yours. You cannot permenantly lose this item, although you may be deprived of it temporarily. It can be stolen or damaged, but can't be destroyed.
Talents are very similar to Templates, in that they grant additional Ability levels. The difference is that they represent natural aptitudes rather than learned experience, although of course Ability levels gained from talents are cumulative with those gained from backgrounds and professions. If you have both natural talent and experience in something, you're likely to be good at it! Talents take the place of 'attributes' or 'stats' in many other games. Each talent gives a total of four ability levels. Unless otherwise specified, these must be spent on any four different Abilities selected from the associated list.
Some example of Talents:
Natural Athlete: Climbing, Acrobatics, Running, Swimming, Boating, Zarandar Riding, Yakka Riding or Lifting.
Well-Built: Lifting, Brawling, Climbing, Acrobatics, Intimidation, Breaking and Entering, and Armed Melee Combat for any heavy melee weapon (Broadsword, Sword and Shield or Polearm).
Graceful: Stealth, Acrobatics, Dancing, Kandar Fu, Dodge, Armed Melee Combat (Broadsword or Fencing Blade)
Quick Reactions: Dodge, Fast Draw, Juggling, any one melee combat Ability, and any one vehicle or riding Ability.
Manual Dexterity: Simple Repair/Devise, Locksmith, Mechanical Repair and any Crafts.
Problem Solver: Strategy, Thlan, Simple Repair/Devise, Breaking and Entering, Research, Mechanical Repair, Electrical Repair, Deduction.
Alert: Perception, Tracking, Breaking and Entering, Evaluate, Stealth, Deduction, Tactics.
Strong Memory: Ancient History, Kalyr Politics, Kalyr Law, Kandar Religious Lore, Human Religious Lore, Kandar Literature, Area Knowledge (of the area in which you live), Natural Science.
Language Talent: Reading and Writing, or any Languages, maximum of two levels per Ability.
Voice: Singing, Oratory and Sex Appeal, plus any one of Bargaining, Fast-Talking or Intimidation.
Persuasive: Bargaining, Fast-Talking, Intimidation, Sex Appeal.
Deceptive: Acting, Disguise, Fast-Talk, Gambling
Strong Personality: Willpower, Leadership, Oratory, Intimidation.
Social Operator: Acting, Bureaucracy, Insight, Kandar Social Graces, Streetwise, Leadership, Performance, Diplomacy.
Musical Talent: Singing and Musician (multiple instruments), with a maximum of two levels in any one Ability.
Healer: Insight, First Aid, Diseases, Veterinary.
Animal Empathy: Animal Handling, Veterinary, Zarandar Riding, Yakka Riding and Waggon-Driving.
Your Connections determine what gadgets, weapons, armour or other personal gear your character begins play with. In many cases, this equipment will be issued by the guild, legion and temple rather than owned outright by your character. [Chapter 5] lists the required connections against every item; both the level of the connection, and who it must be with. If the required connection is higher than any connection you have, you cannot being play with that item.
You may begin with one (and only one) item with a required connection that exactly matches the level you have with that group. This doesn't have to be your highest connection.
Alternatively, you may begin with one weapon that matches your highest weapon skill, even if you don't have the required connections.
You may have any number of items that require connections lower than your connections with the appropriate group.
The following examples show how the character generation system works, with the characters created by two players, Norm and Marielle, in a campaign centering around a clan.
Norm always prefers to play combat-orientated characters that emphasise action rather than talking. Since the campaign is to be set within a single clan, he decides to play a clan knight, and sets out to create an expert swordsman. The choice of background and profession is the obvious one here, Noble and Knight. Norm looks at the Abilities listed under the two templates and decides to take Noble once and Knight more than once, in order to emphasise the martial Abilities.
From the Noble template he chooses the following six Abilities: Kandar Social Graces, Reading and Writing, Ancient History, Kandar Religious Lore, Zarandar Riding, Thlan. The template also gives two levels in Connections: he takes one level to his own clan, and one level to another clan, representing family ties through a cross-clan marriage.
From the first of his Knight templates, representing his early training, he chooses the obvious combat Abilities first, Armed Melee Combat (Broadsword), Kandar Fu, Dodge, and Fast Draw. He has three Abilities left, and chooses Kandar Social Graces, Reading and Writing, and Willpower. Since he also chose first two of these Abilities from his background as a Noble, the level of these two is now fair. He takes another level of connection to his clan, making his connections Fair.
For his second Knight template, representing later experience, he takes same four combat Abilities again, as he does with Willpower, which will give him a level of fair (so far) in them. He decides that the current level of fair is good enough in Kandar Social Graces and Reading and Writing, so he chooses two different Abilities, Zarandar Riding and Perception. He takes a third level of Connection to his own clan, giving a final level of Good, making him a minor noble.
Since Norm's character concept is a relatively young but talented individual rather than a gnarled veteran, he decides not to take Knight a third time, but to take two additional Talents instead. This will allow him to choose a total of five Talents or Gifts.
Since he still wants a Great swordsman, he scans the available talents looking for those that include the Armed Melee Combat (Broadsword) Ability. He chooses Graceful, with the Abilities Stealth, Armed Melee Combat (Broadsword), Kandar Fu and Acrobatics, and Well-Built, with the Abilities of Lifting, Acrobatics, Intimidation, and of course, Armed Melee Combat (Broadsword). Having succeeded in making a great swordsman, Norm then chooses a talent to boost his non-combat Abilities, Perceptive, with the Abilities Perception, Stealth, Tracking and Tactics. Finally, Norm then chooses two Gifts that improve his prowess in combat, Extra Damage and Toughness.
His final Abilities are Armed Melee Combat (Broadsword) at Great, Kandar Fu at Good, Dodge, Fast-Draw, Kandar Social Graces, Reading and Writing, Zarandar Riding, Acrobatics, Stealth, Perception and Willpower all at Fair, and Ancient History, Kandar Religious Lore, Thlan, Tracking, Tactics, Intimidation and Lifting all at Mediocre
Norm rounds out his character with some suitable faults. Impulsiveness is the obvious one, as it fits the way Norm always plays his characters. Deciding that his impulsiveness has got him into unnecessary fights more than once, he takes a Deadly Enemy, a rival knight he humiliated and seriously wounded in a duel, who now wants to get even.
Marielle has a less straightforward character concept; a noblewoman who's public persona as an artist and professional party-goer is cover for her real profession, that of an assassin.
Her background, like Norm's character, is Noble. She chooses the Abilities Kandar Social Graces, Kalyr Politics, Reading and Writing, Artist, Dancing and Vohrran as a foreign language. For connections she takes both levels in connections to her own clan.
Her first profession is her 'cover', Artist. She takes two further levels in Artist (giving a Ability level of Good), plus two levels in Sex Appeal, and one each in Kandar Social Graces, Reading and Writing, and Dancing. She takes a third level of connection to her own clan, resulting in the level of Good needed to be a minor noble.
Next comes her real profession, Assassin/Spy. She takes this profession twice, with the same Abilities each time, Stealth, Armed Melee Combat (Knife), Acting, Disguise, Poisons, Willpower and Fast-Talking. For connections, she takes the 'crime syndicate' of "The Assassins Grapevine", which represents a loose association of assassins and potential clients.
This leaves her with a lot of different Abilities, all at Fair, so she chooses some Talents to boost some of the most useful ones. She selects Deceptive, with the Abilities of Acting, Disguise, Fast-Talking and Gambling, and Perceptive, with the Abilities of Perception, Breaking and Entering, Evaluate and Stealth. Finally, since being an assassin is a dangerous line of work, she takes the Gift of Common Sense.
Her final Abilities are Artist, Stealth, Acting, Disguise and Fast-Talking at Good, Reading and Writing, Kandar Social Graces, Dancing, Sex Appeal, Armed Melee Combat (Knife), Poisons and Willpower at Fair, and Kalyr Politics, Vohrran, Gambling, Perception, Breaking and Entering and Evaluate at Mediocre.
As for Faults, Dark Secret is a must. She also chooses a Character Flaw of 'Lustful' (artists have loose morals)