A&A Quickstart Guide Example Characters

Alright!  Posting daily has reminded how fun blogging can be.  Now to round off the Book of Earth I'm going to use the excerpts we've posted the last few days and walk through the character creation process.  For an experienced guy like me I can do this in about 3 minutes, for one of my regular players it can be done in about 15m or less which I'm happy to report meets my original design goal.

Before we jump in there are two things I forgot to mention in last week's posts.  The quick one first.
1.  Scrolls.
You may have noticed that there are 3 Cantrips per Spell School and a Spell Scroll contains 3 Cantrips.  Well, for Quickstart typically you pick a Spellschool and gain all three basic Cantrips from that school.  This isn't a hard requirement by any means, just for expediency.  If  you know what you want then by all means go ahead and hand-pick your spells; but if you're lost pick a school and keep moving.

2.  Weapons
Those of you with a keen eye may have noticed that Flanged Mace and Sledgehammer are nearly identical except one requires two-hands to wield.  This is to show you that you can take any weapon and quickly convert it into a 2d6 damage zweihander.  If you'd prefer a two-handed skullsplitting ax over the everyday battleax, go for it!

We have rules for many different weapons (and qualities) deeper in the book but if you ever want to make your own variation of weapon it's pretty easy.  You have 3 points to distribute amongst ITS Impact, Thursting Slashing.  After that, choose if it's one or two handed then assign a quality.  You'll see an example of this in Sword Dancer Hono below who turns the Saber and Firearm into two-handers.


EXAMPLE CHARACTERS
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Sondor the Pitfighter  LVL 3  Fiery Fighter
Hometurf: The Badlands.  Profession: Gladiator.  Etiquette: Uncultured Oaf.
Stats: V17 A6 P8 R11  GRID Saves:  +1d6/0/0/+1d6
Attribute: Talented
Alignment: Survivor.  Drive: Become rich beyond wildest dreams.  Goal: High risk/reward jobs.

Level 3  HP 3d6+3 (11)  HD3  ID3  AC:  3 (Heavy Plate)
Combat Clash: 1d20+1d6+ITS  VS 10+Target's AC

Proficiency: Armor I (Move at mid-range while in Heavy armor)
Arms & Equipment
-Spear      ITS 0/3/0  1d6 dmg  Quality: Impale (Hit two targets on Critical/Overkill)
-Shield     ITS 0/0/0  1d6 dmg  Quality: Splinter (Absorb a Wound in your place)
-Javelins  ITS 1/2/0  1d6 dmg  Mid-Range Thrown.  Quality: Vicious (Crit: +1d6 damage)
-Claws     ITS 0/1/2  1d6 dmg  Flurry: 2x Attacks  Quality Vicious
Gear:  Grappling Hook & 50ft Living Rope; Tur Kay's Wound Poultice, Gutsy Grog

(Sondor's player didn't want too many choices right away & stuck w/ vicious for his bread and butter)
(Also, all his weapons are one-handed and compatible with his life saving shield)
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Sword Dancer Hono  LVL 3  Wind Adventurer
Hometurf: The shifting Sands.  Profession: Stargazer (Astronomer)  Etiquette: Academic
Stats:  V7 A16 P13 R6  GRID Saves:  0/+1d6/+1d6/0
Attribute: Adamant Resolve
Alignment: Savior. Drive: Discover what it was like before the great war.  Goal: Travel the world.

Level 3  HP: 3d12+3  (23) HD 3  ID 3  AC: None  (+1d6 Combat Clash)
Combat Clash: 1d20+1d6 + ITS  VS  10+Target's AC

Proficiency: Weapon (Swords) I.  +1 dmg/die and Quality.
Arms & Equipment
--Katana   ITS 0/1/2  Zweihander 2d6+2 dmg.   Speed 4 Quality: Keen (-1 Speed)
--Arquebus Reload 2 Zweihander 4d6 dmg.  Quality: Vicious (Crit: +4d6 damage.  Recall Rule of 3)
Gear & Relics:  Dead man's antidote, Pepper Bomb x6, Sands of Time

(Vicious is pretty, well, vicious with a 4d6 weapon.  But remember the Rule of 3.  Only keep 3 dice!)
(//Author's note: You forgot to include the Rule of 3 Cornerstone on the front page.  Way to go!)
(If you're wondering what all the fuss with Speed is about, you'll find out with Merciless Melee Combat in the Book of Fire.)

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Green-Skinned Tiamult  LVL 3 Earth Seeker

Hometurf: The Everglow.  Profession: Green skinned Mutant (Circus Attraction) Etiquette: Outlaw
Stats:  V12 A5 P9 R15   GRID Saves:  0/0/+1d6/+1d6
Attribute:  Ogre
Alignment: Nihilist.  Drive: World Domination  Goal: Attain more powerful magics

Level 3 HP: 3d6+3 (15)  HD 3  ID 3  AC: 7  (Light leather)
Combat Clash: 1d20+ITS  VS  10+Target's AC

Proficiency:  Spells I

Arms & Equipment

-Tomahawk (Throwing)  ITS 2/0/1  Einhander d6 dmg
-Wand of Earth  (10 uses.  -1 extra use +1 Hit)
-Spellscroll (Transmutation)  10 uses before it Spontaneously combusts
-Spellscroll (Witchcraft)        10 uses before it Spontaneously combusts
Relics:  Flying Faerie Dust, Illumina Jewel, Sands of Time

(Tiamult has a good mix of magical utility plus elemental damage meaning that he rounds out the group quite well.  Elements & Magic certainly aren't a necessity to a party but it will make some fights easier.  Just don't rely on it too much!  Thankfully, as a Seeker with his boosted d12 Intrepid Dice Tiamult is unlikely to fall victim to many magical mishaps.)