Character Creation

## Chapter 1: Character Creation

Your first step in playing an adventurer in the Isles of Gula game is to imagine and create a character of your own. Your character is a combination of game statistics, and the backstory you make. You choose a race (such as human or midget) and a starting profession (such as priest or pirate). You also invent the personality, appearance, and backstory of your character. Once completed, your character serves as your representative in the game, your avatar in the Isles of Gula world.

Before you dive into step 1 below, think about the kind of adventurer you want to play. You might be an honored soldier, a skulking thief, or a fervent priest, it’s your choice.

Once you have a character in mind, follow these steps in order, making decisions that reflect the character you want. Your concept may change with each choice you make. What’s important is that you come to the table with a character you’re excited to play.

Throughout this chapter, we use the term character sheet to mean whatever you use to track your character.

## 1. Choose a Race

Every character belongs to a race, one of the many intelligent humanoid species in the IofG world. The most common playable character races are Aventi, Lizardfolk, Kortocka, and humans. You can make a half-breed, a mix of two races. Chapter 2 provides more information about these races. The race you choose contributes to your character’s identity in an important way, by establishing a general appearance and the natural talents gained from culture and ancestry. Your character’s race grants particular racial traits, such as special senses, proficiency with certain weapons or tools, proficiency in one or more skills, or the ability to use minor spells. These traits sometimes fit with the stats of certain classes (see step 2). For example, the racial traits of agile Kortako make them exceptional thieves, and Lizardfolk tends to be fearsome pirates. Your race also increases one or more of your ability scores, which you determine in step 3. Note these increases and remember to apply them later. Record the traits granted by your race on your character sheet. Be sure to note your starting languages and your base speed as well.

## 2. Pick a class

Every adventurer is a member of a class. Your class broadly describes a character’s vocation, what special talents he or she possesses, the class of there fighting, and the tactics he or she is most likely to employ when exploring a cave, fighting monsters, or engaging in a tense negotiation. The character classes are described in chapter 3. Your character receives a number of benefits from your class. Many of these benefits are class features—capabilities that set your character apart from members of other classes. You also gain a number of proficiencies: armor, weapons, and tools. Your proficiencies define many of the things your character can do particularly well, from using certain weapons to telling a convincing lie.

On your character sheet, record your starting feats. Typically, a character starts at 1st tier and advances in a tier by hitting. A 1st-tier character is inexperienced in the adventuring world, although he or she might have been a soldier or a pirate and done dangerous things before. Starting off at 1st tier marks your character’s entry into the adventuring life. If you’re already familiar with the game, or if you are joining an existing IofG campaign, your DM might decide to have you begin at a

higher tier, on the assumption that your character has already survived a few harrowing adventures. Record your tier on your character sheet. If you’re starting at a higher tier, record the additional elements your class gives you for your tiers past 1st. A 1st-tier character has 0 XP. A higher-tier character typically begins with the Skill Point Checkpoint number

### Entering Existing Campaigns

Typically, a character starts with 6 skill Points until you fill up your skill meter with experience points (XP). A beginning character is inexperienced in the adventuring world, although he or she might have been a soldier or a pirate and done dangerous things before. Starting off with no abilities marks your character’s entry into the adventuring life. If you’re already familiar with the game, or if you are joining an existing IofG campaign, your OM might decide to have you begin with the lowest character’s Skill Points for you to pick where to put them. Record your abilities and max total experience points on your character sheet. Also, record your experience points.

### Entering Existing Campaigns

Typically, a character starts with no abilities until they tier up, by filling up your skill meter with experience points (XP). A beginning character is inexperienced in the adventuring world, although he or she might have been a soldier or a pirate and done dangerous things before. Starting off with no abilities marks your character’s entry into the adventuring life. If you’re already familiar with the game, or if you are joining an existing IofG campaign, your OM might decide to have you begin with the lowest character skill score total for you to pick where to put them. Record your abilities and max skill score on your character sheet. Also, record your experience points.

## 3. Determine Ability Scores

Much of what your character does in the game depends on his or her six abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Each ability has a score, which is a number you record on your character sheet.

In Ocean’s Bounty, you generate your character’s six ability scores randomly. Roll four 6-sided dice and record the total of the highest three dice on a piece of scratch paper. Do this five more times, so that you have six numbers. If you want to save time or don’t like the idea of randomly determining ability scores, you can use the following scores instead: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. These numbers will be used later.

## 4. Choose Skills

When you start, you have a total of 6 Skill Points for you to choose where they will go. You may decide to put two on athletics, one on navigation and another on accuracy, so on. You choose where to put them. Then when the skill meter fills you get an additional Skill point for you to choose where to put it.

### Skill Meter and Skill Points

Skill Points are your way of advancing your skills. This is separate from advancing tiers. You get a Skill Point when you fill up the Skill Meter (SM) to your Skill Meter quota or maximum with Experience Points (XP). The experience points you need to reach the skill meter quota varies depending on your tier. Your tier x 200 = Your Skill Point Quota or maximum. Once you have a skill point you use it to advance a skill, adding proficiency to it.

### Skill Chart

* Accuracy (Dexterity): This determines the accuracy of a shot or a throw of a gun, weapon or projectile.
* Acrobatics (Dexterity): This determines your attempt to stay on your feet in a tricky situation, such as when you're trying to run across a sheet of ice, balance on a tightrope, stay upright on a rocking ship's deck, or perform acrobatic stunts, including dives, rolls, somersaults, and flips.
* Animal Handling (Wisdom): Can you calm down a domesticated animal, keep a mount from getting spooked, or intuit an animal’s intentions? This also measures your control your mount when you attempt a risky maneuver.
* Brawn (Strength): This measures how well you can swing a sword, or difficult situations you encounter while climbing, jumping, or swimming.
* Deception (Charisma): This determines whether you can convincingly hide the truth, either verbally or through your actions. This deception can encompass everything from misleading others through ambiguity to telling outright lies.
* Deduction (Intelligence): This determines if you can make the correct deductions based on clues of an object or creature/s, including weird details, structural damage, body language, speech habits, and changes in mannerisms.
* Memory (Wisdom): This checks if you can recall lore about historical events, legendary people, ancient kingdoms, past disputes, recent wars, lost civilizations, a passage in the Bible, or a geographic landform.
* Illusion (Charisma): This measures if you can convince someone that an Illusion is real, like walking in fire and pretending you're a god, even though you drank a fire resistance potion beforehand.
* Intimidation (Strength): This determines if you can get the information you need through overt threats, hostile actions, and physical violence.
* Medicine (Intelligence): This determines if you can stabilize a dying companion or diagnose an illness.
* Navigation (Wisdom): This measures your knowledge of terrain, plants, and animals, the weather, and if you know which direction your facing and if you know the general area of where you are.
* Perception (Wisdom): This checks if you spot a clue, detect the presence of a creature. It measures your general awareness of your surroundings and the keenness of your senses.
* Persuasion (Charisma): This determines if you can convince someone to tell you information or do something through complaints, begging, false reasoning, and flirting.
* Resistance (Constitution): This determines if your hurt from a blow, poisoned by the dragon’s breath, or fall sick from the plague.
* Stealth (Dexterity): This determines if you succeed to conceal yourself, slink past guards, slip away without being noticed, or sneak up on someone without being seen or heard.

### Health Points

Your character’s hit points define how tough your character is in combat and other dangerous situations. Your hit points are determined by your Constitution tier times 2. That is your hit point maximum. Record your character’s hit points on your character sheet.

### Capacity

Capacity is how much you can haul, drag, lift or carry through the terrain. Your capacity is your Strength score multiplied by 15. This is the weight (in pounds) that you can carry, which is high enough that most characters don’t usually have to worry about it.

You can push, drag, or lift a weight in pounds up to twice your carrying capacity (or 30 times your Strength score). While pushing or dragging weight in excess of your carrying capacity, your speed drops to 5 feet.

## 4. Describe Your Character

Once you know the stats of your character, it’s time to flesh him or her out as a person. Your character needs a name. Spend a few minutes thinking about what he or she looks like and how he or she behaves in general terms. Choose your character’s alignment (the moral compass that guides his or her decisions) and ideals. Pick one or two bonds and the flaws, that will flesh out the roleplaying aspect of your IofG character. Your character’s backstory describes where he or she came from, the character’s place in the IofG world, and her journey to where he or she is at the start of the adventure. Your OM might offer an additional history of the campaign that he or she came up with for you to work in. You should try to pick skills that correspond with your character’s backstory. You pick 1-2 languages of your race and if you want an additional one that fits your backstory of class. Record this information, along with the personality information you develop, on your character sheet.

### Fitting Description to Stats

Take your character’s stats scores and race into account as you flesh out his or her appearance and personality. A very strong character with low intelligence might think and behave very differently from a very smart character with low Strength.

For example, high Strength usually corresponds with a burly or athletic body, while a character with low Strength might be scrawny or plump. A character with high Dexterity is probably lithe and slim, while a character with low Dexterity might be either gangly and awkward or heavy and thick-fingered. A character with high Constitution usually looks healthy, with bright eyes and abundant energy. A character with low Constitution might be sickly or frail. A character with high Intelligence might be highly inquisitive and studious, while a character with low Intelligence might speak simply or easily forget details. A character with high Wisdom has good judgment, empathy, and a general awareness of what’s going on. A character with low Wisdom might be absent-minded, foolhardy, or oblivious. And it goes on and on. Use your best judgment to match your stats with your appearance, but sometimes it’s fun to make an odd character too.

## 6. Choose Equipment

Your class and background determine your character’s starting equipment, including weapons, armor, and other adventuring gear. Record this equipment on your character sheet. Instead of taking the gear given to you by your class and background, you can purchase your starting equipment. You have a number of gold coins (GC) to spend based on your class.

Your Strength score and your Capacity skill limit the amount of gear you can carry. Try not to purchase equipment with a total weight (in pounds) exceeding your Max capacity. (Strength score + Capacity Skill) x 15 = your max capacity.

### Armor Rating

Your Armor Rating (AR) represents how well your character avoids being wounded in battle. Things that contribute to your AR include the armor you wear, the shield you carry, and your Resistance Skill tier. Not all characters wear armor or carry shields, however. Without armor or a shield, your character’s AR equals 10 + his or her Resistance Skill. If your character wears armor, carries a shield, or both, calculate your AC. Record your AR on your character sheet.

Your character needs to be proficient with armor and shields to wear and use them effectively, and your armor and shield proficiencies are determined by your class. There are drawbacks to wearing armor or carrying a shield if you lack the required proficiency.

### Weapons

For each weapon, your character wields, calculate the modifier you use when you attack with the weapon and the damage you deal when you hit.

• For attacks with melee weapons, roll a d10 and add your Strength Score and Brawn Skill tier.

•  If a melee weapon has the nimble property, such as a rapier, can use your Dexterity score + 2 instead (Dexterity score + 2 + 1d10)

• For attacks with ranged weapons, roll a d10 and add your Dexterity Score and Accuracy Skill tier.

• For a weapon or object that has the thrown, such as a handaxe, roll a d10 and add your Strength Score and Accuracy Skill tier.