Persona

This is who you are. This is beyond race, class, personal ability in combat, any of that pen-and-paper stuff. This is your ideals, your ambitions, and your interests and passions. This is about your experience in life, who you are as much as who you want to be.

As such this is where your ability proficiencies are decided (okay, a little pen-and-papery).

Work with your DM to determine your personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws.

#### Ability Scores

Though very similar to D&D and Pathfinder ability scores in The Third Path differ by being built around five main ability scores instead of the traditional six. It also differs in that each ability score has four unique ability skills and four shared skills (one with each other ability score). This whole system is built off of associating the colors of the MTG system with different attributes and skills as shown below:

* **Will Ability Score (White)**
	+ *Unique Ability Skills:* Constitution, Investigation, Knowledge: Planar, Knowledge: Religion
	+ *Shared Ability Skills:* Craft, Persuasion, Athletics, Medicine
* **Skill Ability Score (Blue)**
	+ *Unique Ability Skills:* Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Knowledge: History, Knowledge: Arcana
	+ *Shared Ability Skills:* Craft, Deception, Spellcraft, Acrobatics
* **Charisma Ability Score (Black)**
	+ *Unique Ability Skills:* Barter, Performance, Knowledge: Diplomacy, Knowledge: Local
	+ *Shared Ability Skills:* Persuasion, Deception, Intimidation, Survival
* **Action Ability Score (Red)**
	+ *Unique Ability Skills:* Initiative, Reflex, Knowledge: Engineering, Knowledge: Dungeoneering
	+ *Shared Ability Skills:* Athletics, Spellcraft, Intimidation, Animal Handling
* **Instinct Ability Score (Green)**
	+ *Unique Ability Skills:* Insight, Perception, Knowledge: Geography, Knowledge: Nature
	+ *Shared Ability Skills:* Medicine, Acrobatics, Survival, Animal Handling

Different races and classes will have different modifiers to these ability scores, the unique ability scores represent the pure aspects of your color association. While the shared abilities represent the ability checks that can be done with the ability score modifier from either color, depending on if the DM wants to give the player the option or decide the context of the situation and the appropriate color check themselves.

*Example: One of the player characters is trying to pull a fast one on a NPC. The DM asks for a Deception check! The player is given the choice to choose between either their blue deception modifier or their black deception modifier. Essentially choosing to deceive the NPC with trickery (blue) or more malicious means (black). If the player instead says they want to make a deception roll by pushing the NPC's daughter off a roof and blaming a guard then the DM would be within their rights to specify a BLACK deception check.*

### Personal Characteristics

Beyond the individualized ability modifiers that come from experience and class customization throughout a campaign, the core of your character's persona are their characteristics and traits. This is mostly represented in a characters background which is made up of their ambitions, ideals, bonds, and flaws.

#### Ambitions

The core goal your character begins with that evolves as the character progress through the campaign, succeed or fail. This can range from acquiring power in the form of a certain level of magic or becoming ruler of a small kingdom. This is a personal main quest for the character that the DM tries to work in as a key side quest.

*Example: A.) To kill the local ruler who has wronged your family. B.) To collect three powerful staves from around the multiverse. C.) To kill Jace Beleren and assume his identity.*

#### Ideals

Inspired by one word that describes and drives your character. Your ideals are the things that you believe in the most strongly, the fundamental more and ethical principles that compel you to act as you do.

*Example: Change. Faith. Tradition. Freedom. Power.*

#### Bond

Create one bond for your character. Bonds represent a character's connections to people, places, and events in the plane. They tie the character to their background and provide inspiration for character interest and story arch.

*Example: A.) I owe my life to an old man who took me in one winter. B.) Everything I do is for the common people. C.) I will do anything to protect those close to me.*

#### Flaw

Finally, choose a flaw for your character. Your character's flaw represents some vice, compulsion, fear, or weakness. Anything that someone else could employ against you to cause against the best interest of you and those around you. What enrages you? What is your weakness or vice? What are you terrified of?

*Example: A.) I am inflexible in my thinking. B.) Once I pick a goal, I become obsessed with it to the detriment of everything else in my life. C.) Violence is my answer to almost any challenge.*