Comprehensive Character Rules

* 2 Characters; Gain a third when one of your characters hits 10.
* 30 Point Buy
* Level 2 Start
* 1000gp Starting Wealth (WBL)
* Max HP per HD.
* Gain +1 to an ability score at EVERY even level, instead of every 4th level.
* Medium Exp Track…
	+ But how much XP to give you is up to the DM.
	+ Different players can be awarded bonus XP based on participation.

	+ You may create a custom Drawback that fits your character, at least equivalent to those listed.
	+ You may always add more flaws to your character, they just don’t grant feats.
* Elephant in the Room Feat Tax rules are in effect.
* We use Background Skills rules. This grants 2 extra skill ranks per level, only usable on specific skills.

### Races

* All Paizo races up to 16RP are allowed. Non-paizo races subject to approval.
	+ Any race worth less than 10RP gets a bonus feat if they don’t already have one.
	+ All kobolds are Zethian Kobolds. (See Link)
* Character Race dictates general size, capabilities, and form-factor, but your character can look like whatever the hell you want outside of its mechanical abilities.
* Shades (PCs) do not continue to age during play. Choose your starting age accordingly.
	+ If a race reaches Middle Age earlier than a human would, use Human age brackets instead. This is purely to give all characters a wider band to be ‘18+’ before being ‘middle aged’. Use this table to check your racial age progression.
	+ If you don’t take aging penalties, you cannot benefit from aging bonuses. Mythic Path Abilities and Level 20 abilities such as the Wizard Discovery ‘Immortality’ are the sole exception to this caveat.
* Any race can use any race’s favored class bonus.

### Magic, Faith, and Alignment

* Unique Summon Rules for deities can be used by any character without worshiping that deity, but only a single minion can benefit from this exemption.
	+ This means you may only have one ‘deity minion’ from the Unique Summon Rules of a deity other than your own.
* Any summoned creature can take any appearance that roughly fits its form factor, much like how any character race can have any appearance.
	+ This has no mechanical impact on the summoned creature.
* All existing deities are Echoes. You can draw power from them, have them answer prayers, etc. but think of them as divine answering machines. The normal portfolios and agendas of the divine do not apply to the Gap, they just act the way they ‘would’ in reality, when beseeched by followers. There are countless versions of deities; you pray to ‘your version’ and receive boons from them accordingly, where relevant. Halkiir is the main ‘deity’ exempt from this clause, but it already responds to its followers that way.
* All dead deities are back on the table. The Gap disregards cosmology and divine timelines. You’re free to worship a ‘dead’ deity. Any ‘fleshing out’ of existing deities (such as requesting deity domains, spells, etc where they don’t exist) is a #minor-approval.
* Necromancy has some changes considering the setting of the Gap.
	+ The Gap does not have an afterlife for any creature. A creature’s ‘soul’ is a conceptual mark left on the Gap; the soul doesn’t experience anything until resurrected or interacted with by a spell that usually contacts the dead.
	+ A deceased Shade or Echo eventually dissolves into intangible Lore Fragments if left unattended. Therefore, corpses are not readily available; if you want corpses, you must kill a living creature or purchase a Necrotic Marionette.
	+ Personally embalming or stripping a corpse of flesh, such as with the Decompose Corpse spell, renders it an ‘object’ that no longer dissolves, and reanimating it renders it another creature that similarly will not dissolve.
	+ Reanimating a suitably embalmed or skeletonized corpse creates a True Neutral undead and the spell or effect involved loses the Evil descriptor if it has one. It is not considered an evil act.
	+ ‘Field Reanimation’, or raising a corpse without any preparations to render it from a ‘deceased Shade/Echo’, always creates Neutral Evil undead and is typically an evil act.
	+ Creating intelligent undead works differently depending whether the deceased creature is willing to be raised (as with resurrection). A willingly reanimated intelligent undead retains its original alignment, memories, and personality. A forcibly reanimated intelligent undead has its mind warped by the rigors of the necromancy; the undead created has the Neutral Evil alignment and significant amnesia about the original creature’s life.
	+ Forcibly creating intelligent undead is always an extremely evil act, equivalent to torturing a sapient creature purely for entertainment; you are always aware and capable of canceling your spell if a creature is unwilling to be reanimated.

### Miscellaneous

* All characters start with 1 Hero Point. At the end of each session, your hero-points are set to 1 (or 2 if you have a hero-point feat) if you have less than this amount. Anti-heroes may not personally gain or use Hero Points, but Hero Points may be used on them with or without their consent.
* Custom Firearms rules:
	+ All firearms and ammunition cost 25% of the listed price, including Advanced ones.
	+ Firearms are Martial Weapons; one-handed and two-handed firearms are considered distinct weapon families for weapon familiarity & similar.
	+ The gunslinger loses the Gunsmith class feature and instead gains the Gun Training class feature at 1st level.
	+ If a character with less than 5 gunslinger levels takes levels in another class, they cap their bonus damage from Gun Training at 5 until they reach gunslinger 5.
* All characters may take a Template that can be upgraded with Anima, a special currency earned in sessions or purchased with RP points.
* Oaths are allowed.
	+ Oath of the Cryptkeeper and Oath Against Mercy are not allowed.
	+ Boons are subject to #minor-approvals approval.
	+ Oath of Offerings only grants 5 Oath Points, and now only requires the offering of gp equivalent to half of all gold income. If a GM does not cite a GP value for an item, you do not have to make an offering for it.
* ‘Generic’ favored class bonuses are expanded:
	+ 2 hp or skill ranks per level (up from 1)
	+ +¼ of a Feat (Anti Hero Only)
	+ +1/6 Minimum and Maximum Hero Points (Hero Only)
		- This means at level 6, you may have 4 Hero Points maximum, and gain hero points until you have 2 at the end of each session.

## Downtime & Crafting

* Time is nebulous in The Gap. Downtime is purchased with RP points and awarded at the end of sessions. You can ‘bank’ as much downtime as you want, but you never ‘passively’ gain it.
* Non-magical crafting is done at a rate of 10gp x your craft roll per day of downtime. Items worth less than 100gp can be crafted instantly (without using downtime) if you have 5 or more ranks in the relevant skill.
* A ‘full retrain’ is always done in a single week of downtime.
* When making scrolls of spells not native to your class list, you make them as if you were a ‘native’ caster. This includes Bloodline, Domain, Mystery, Patron, and any other spells you gain the ability to cast through a class feature.
	+ For example, a scroll of Fireball made by a Fire Domain cleric is mechanically the same as a scroll of Fireball made by a Wizard of equal level. It is not considered a ‘divine spell scroll’, because no divine casters have native access to it.
* Necromancers cannot obtain corpses directly. They must obtain and kill living creatures- animals are a typical option- or purchase a Necrotic Marionette. Of course, if a necromancer insists on obtaining humanoid slaves, these can be sought out in the Underbelly or the more dangerous parts of the Sprawl… As a mini-session.

## Character Death

* Any character who dies in a Tale, or who becomes trapped in that Tale, has their body returned to the Maw in Halveksia after no more than 1 week (delay determined by the DM).
	+ The time experienced by the player inside the tale, in the case of being trapped, may be dramatically more. They might spend years as a drow slave, or an eternity trapped by the Imprisonment spell, before popping out like nothing happened a week later.
* If a player dies, they must be resurrected. If the player’s soul is not somehow imprisoned or destroyed, and their body is intact, they may pay 5000gp to be restored to life without the usual limitations or consequences of Raise Dead.
	+ The character retains any permanent afflictions they had before dying.
	+ Unlike Raise Dead, even Undead, Elementals, and Outsiders (but not Constructs) may be thus resurrected.
	+ The player’s soul is destroyed if their Anima is successfully harvested. Restoring a soul for subsequent resurrection is its own Wish.
	+ The player is still a valid target for True Resurrection if their body is utterly destroyed; if True Resurrection cannot revive them, a separate Wish will be needed to restore their body.
* Any Player Character may enter debt with the Halkiic Cult to pay for resurrection, if they cannot afford it. This is considered having negative gp until it is paid off; it may be paid off with Care Package or other sources of money usually meant solely for consumables.

## Anima Templates & VMC

All characters can spend ‘Anima’ (tracked by UnbelievaBoat as an item) to upgrade their templates as play progresses. A character’s template represents their unique constitution, background, or other factors that grant them powers not typical of their race and class.If you don’t wish to use the template system, you can spend Anima to unlock Variant Multiclass abilities without losing feats.

### Anima Templates

* At level 1, an Anima Template should follow This Standard Format. Level 1 Templates are submitted and approved along with your character sheet.
	+ +2/+2 Bonuses to Ability Scores, max
	+ Up to 6 total points in skill bonuses
	+ One Ability. Minor items, like extra languages, type changes, defenses, etc. can be bundled, subject to GM approval.
	+ Template Abilities cannot grant feats at level 1.
* Templates will be stored in Google Docs or on the Wiki. Don’t like it? Use VMC progression.
* Any upgrade to your template is subject to approval. Players with an Approved Character will see the appropriate channel in the Character Creation category.
* Your Template may copy/imitate ONE ability from a class you do not have. In most cases, you shouldn’t add an ability to your template before the level a character of that class you’re copying from would obtain it. This is a limitation, not a requirement- you may entirely write your own template abilities, if you wish.
* Anima Templates can only grant bonuses to 2 unique skills.
	+ Craft, Profession, Lore, and Perform are not counted against this cap.
* Template abilities which bypass immunities should be paired with a penalty to hit or effect DC of at least -4. The harder it is to get a bypass from a non-template source, the higher this penalty should be.

### Free VMC Progression

Progress Variant Multiclass abilities at the levels noted in the normal VMC rules. If you don’t have an Anima Template, you may ‘reclaim’ the lost feat at a cost as noted below:

 3, 7
 11, 15
 19

## Player Homes & Lore Fragment Purchases

### Player Threads & Channels

* All player thread and channel types can be given a basic configuration. Structures (but not valuable art objects), terrain, water features, and vegetation can be ‘shaped’ as part of the purchased thread; all terrain features (and plants of greater than Large size, like trees) configured this way have Hardness 0 and can be burrowed through like densely packed dirt.
* At the player’s option, Domains and Territories can be populated with a basic ecosystem that can sustain an arbitrary amount of hunting and gathering. This includes fruiting plants, edible mushrooms, and animals of up to Large size. Note that these are not ‘stocked’, but ‘allowed in’ from another wild space; this option will leave your Domain or Territory with a proportional number of predators not under your jurisdiction, which may threaten visitors, vassals, or even a low-level player.
* You may further populate any player home with functional rooms. Keep in mind that for Domains and Territories, you can have as many maps as you want, as large as you want.
	+ You may apply the components, extras, and Wondrous Architecture from the 3.5 Stronghold Builder’s Guidebook. Pay only the GP cost for the functional component or other ‘thing’ you want to make a permanent part of your player home; don’t fuss with modifiers, landlording, height multipliers, discounts, etc.
	+ You may additionally make any room function as a room from Rooms and Teams rules, paying the converted GP cost. The functional Rooms work as described, except for downtime income generation.
	+ We are not using downtime income generation, and you may not hire staff for your domain using the Stronghold Builder’s Guidebook rules.

### 3rd Party Content/Homebrew Requests

* We do approve 3pp, and take suggestions. You can even offer up your own homebrew. You will be charged 1 Anima for making any suggestion; if you don’t have any Anima at the time a GM checks your suggestion, your suggestion will be deleted without consideration.
* Some content may be approved for a specific character and not added to the approved document.

## Approved Materials

The following content is considered ‘core’ material, and is always approved if not explicitly listed in the Banned Content section.

* All Paizo Materials, including Campaign Traits.
	+ Combat Stamina optional rules are included, through the Combat Stamina feat. You do not have access to Combat Stamina without the Combat Stamina feat.
* All 3.5e Materials, including Dragon Magazine.
	+ If a feat, spell, class, etc. of the same name exists in Pathfinder (even if it’s replaced by EitR), the 3.5 version is unavailable.
* All content in the Homebrew Zone.
* All Legendary Classes are Approved
* All Drop Dead Studios Spheres Content.
	+ Caution: Wiki contains 3rd Party Content. Ensure what you want is DDS.
* In The Company of Dragons is Approved
	+ You may use the original book (above) or the revised/extended version.
* The Great Old One Halkiir takes an active role in this setting.
* Bloodforge.pdf
* Psionics are mostly approved. See Ban List and ensure that it’s from Dreamscarred Press before putting it on your sheet.
* Starfinder items above level 2 are not readily available, but you may spend anima to search for them. Some items can simply be obtained as session rewards- others will require you to spend Anima to request a session.Yet other items may be unavailable entirely.  Ask a GM.
* Starfinder items are assumed to have a crit range of 20x2. They inflict their critical effects only upon a natural roll of 20 regardless of their current crit range.
* Shades of the Gap Homebrew- obviously.

### 3.5e to Pathfinder Conversions

* Convert skills from 3.5e to Pathfinder using this chart for reference.
* 3.5e Prestige Classes require 3 fewer skill ranks (minimum 1) for Pathfinder characters.
* If a spell, feat, or ability exists in Pathfinder, use the Pathfinder version. No exceptions.

## Banned/Changed List

### Changed Content

1. Lore Drake (Dragons of Eberron, Pg. 31) No longer grants a static +2 to effective sorcerer casting. It now has the clause, ‘To a maximum of the dragon’s hit dice’ like most CL increases.
2. Dragons of Eberron Sovereign Archetypes that allow you to ‘cast’ certain divine spells as Arcane spells do not make those spells available in scroll form as arcane spells. You must access these spells through spells gained on level up or via a Page of Spell Knowledge keyed to that spell.
3. Crafting Traditions are Allowed but the ‘Cheap’ quality does not stack with any other crafting cost reductions. This means the ‘Cheap’ boon allows you to craft items at 45% market price, and is disregarded if your other modifiers to crafting cost would bring it below this mark.

### Banned Content

We prefer not to ban anything unless it becomes a widespread problem. Abusing broken shit can and will get your character incapacitated mid-session, and we won’t even feel bad. Use your best judgment.

1. Luck of Heroes (Luck) feat is banned.
2. Sacred Geometry is banned.
3. Aptitude Weapon Enchantment is banned.
4. Lightning Mace Feat is banned.
5. Disciple of Dispater is banned.
6. Ally and Army Across Time are banned.
7. Master of Many Forms is banned.
8. Spellvampire is banned
9. Master Transmogrifist is banned.
10. 3.5 Shapechange is banned.
11. The Verminlord Prestige Class is banned.
12. Evil's Blessing is banned.
13. Arithmancy is banned.
14. Elder Druid is banned.
15. Dark Speech Hivemind from the Book of Vile darkness is banned.
16. Cranium rats for use in any swarm are banned.
17. Hiveminds in general (just in case there's another one) are banned.
18. Illithid Savant is banned.
19. If a trait you pick requires a character/NPC to exist that doesn't exist or GM intervention to make it function, you cannot take it. This most notably includes Finding Haleen
20. All Crafting speed/cost-related feats from 3.0/3.5 are banned.
21. Kaorti Resin is banned..
22. Firearm Modifications (Legendary Gunslinger) are banned.
23. Soulless Gaze (Damnation) is banned.
24. Reapers must reclaim their soul at level 20.
25. Spell to power Erudite is banned.
26. Any form of Fusion is banned on use other than Player Characters.
27. Avatism Feat (Heritage Creature Type - Ooze) is banned.
28. Boomerang Daze Feat is banned.
29. Origins/Origin Traditions are banned.
30. Duskwalker Agent (aka "Dusk Agent") is banned.
31. Forbidden Knowledge (Moral Insanity) is banned.
32. Foe-biting legendary item ability is banned.
33. Legendary Medium is banned.
34. 3.5 Savage/Monster Progression (including from Dragon Magazine) is banned.
35. Focused Stamina is banned.