Making a Character

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The first step in creating a character is to come up with a character concept. Do you want to be a mighty warrior wielding a two-handed sword, a stealthy thief who creeps in the shadows, a flamboyant troubadour who sings for the crowds, or a secretive magician who masters powerful spells?

Do you want to be a mysterious elf from the northern forest, a swashbuckling ottrali with cute whiskers and a sharp blade, a burly troll driven by honor, or a cheerful dwarf who enjoys creating gadgets? Once you have some idea of what you want to play, you will follow the steps below to create your character.

Let us begin!

Prepare your character sheet.

Start by either copying/printing a character sheet from the appendix or using a digital copy; For the best experience, use this fillable and printable PDF Sheet here.

Don’t try getting ahead just yet, everything will make sense in order.

On to Step 1!

Step 1—Pick Your Race

Below is a quick list of races to help you with ideas before diving into the longer race descriptions. Each race has unique racial traits. Once you have selected your race you can fill in the details on your character sheet as outlined below.

Racial mechanics are located in the Character Races chapter, and tips for roleplaying each race are in the Tellus Primer.

Cro are bipedal avian crows from across the ocean. The have a caste-based culture and a unique perspective in how they view the world.

Dwarves are a short race of tinkerers and farmers. City dwarves are famous for their gadgets, and country dwarves for growing orchards.

Elves are an ancient race with a magical tie to the forests of the world. They prefer to stay distant from the shorter-lived races, content to live in their arboreal cities.

Fairies are tiny beings born of pure magic. They view the world with wonder, but their carefree attitude and carelessness can be difficult to deal with.

Ferresti are cat-like humanoids from the dense jungles of Hyperia. They are hot-blooded explorers in search of the next challenge.

Gnolls resemble bipedal hyenas. They are fierce and tribal, and most gnolls are feared and unwelcome due to their long history of violence and banditry. Gnolls that do leave their homes to live among others will seek to bond with a new “pack” and are fiercely loyal.

Goblins are short with green skin and pointed ears. Most goblins are dangerous tribal outsiders who raid and plunder anyone they can. A small percentage of goblins live among the other races doing dirty jobs, but they are rarely trusted.

Humans are a race of builders and explorers. They are one of the few races to sail the oceans and settle in new lands, which has led to diverse cultures developing regionally over time.

Merfolk are aquatic humanoids that live a life of duality, born of sea and land, they can be voices of calm or sudden storms. They do not stray far from water and are deeply religious and oft misunderstood by the land-born. 

Ottrali are a furry race of otter-like humanoids. They live near the water, and are friendly, energetic and love bright colors. They have close-knit communities, though some are traders that travel the rivers in boats.

Trolls are a race of powerful warriors with a complex system of honor. They are tall and strong, with horns and tusks. Often feared, most Trolls live with their own kind in distant settlements.

Before selecting a race, you should check with your Gamemaster to verify which ones are available in their campaign. Playing Fairies, Gnolls, Goblins, Kobolds and Trolls can create unique story-telling challenges.

Step 1a: Determine your character’s height.

In the long racial descriptions in Character Races chapter you will see that each race has their own height chart. You will need to roll on the respective chart to determine your character’s height.

Once you have determined your character’s height, you will refer to Table: Size Modifiers to obtain your Pace Modifier, Base Strength, and Base Dexterity.

Table: Size Modifiers
Height (feet)	Pace	Base	Base	Size
(rounded at 6" and up)	Mod	Strength	Dexterity	Category
25	40	30	2	Colossal
24	38	29	3	Giant
23	36	28	3	Giant
22	34	27	3	Giant
21	32	26	3	Giant
20	30	25	4	Giant
19	28	24	5	Huge
18	26	23	5	Huge
17	24	22	5	Huge
16	22	21	5	Huge
15	20	20	5	Huge
14	18	19	6	Large
13	16	18	6	Large
12	14	17	6	Large
11	12	16	6	Large
10	10	15	6	Large
9	8	14	6	Medium
8	6	13	7	Medium
7	4	12	8	Medium
6	2	11	9	Medium
5	0	10	10	Medium
4	-2	8	12	Small
3	-4	6	14	Small
2	-6	4	16	Very Small
1	-8	2	18	Very Small
6"-11"	-10	0	20	Tiny
<6"	-12	-2	22	Minuscule

Step 1b: Record Racial Traits

Each race has a list of unique racial traits found in the long descriptions of the race. Record these racial traits on the first page of your character sheet in the “Racial/Class Traits” section.

Step 1c: Record starting languages.

All characters start off knowing one language for free; this does not cost a proficiency and should be recorded under Known Languages. All characters must start off knowing the common tongue, which in Westerness is the language Galtian. Non-humans will need to spend one of their starting ten ranks in the Language skill, along with one of their starting ten proficiencies to purchase their native tongue unless their background provides a reason for not speaking it. Players should consult with their GM to ensure that they have the correct languages selected. No character should start play without speaking the common tongue without an express arrangement with the gamemaster, as this makes playing a cooperative game very challenging.

Languages of Galtia

Step 1: Building Brawn. After looking through the list of races, Rob decides that he wants to make a human character named Brawn. Reading through the description of humans, he sees that humans have three traits: obstinate, resilient, and skilled. He makes a note of these on his character sheet under 'Race/Class Traits'. He then rolls a d20 on the Table: Human Heights and gets a 19. Brawn will be 6' 2" tall. Indexing the Table: Size Modifiers using just his height in feet of "6", he gets these values:

• Pace Mod: 2
• Base Strength: 11
• Base Dexterity: 9
• Size: Medium.He records these values on his character sheet. Rob selects Galtian and Kaldethi for his languages (after consulting with the Gamemaster for what would be his best choices).He checks the box next to regional knowledge, under the General Knowledge skill; he then writes in “Fairmarket” as his hometown on the Known Regions section below the skills, chosen from the list of place names also provided by the Gamemaster. With that decided, he moves on to Step 2.

Step 2—Select Background skills and proficiencies.

In Adventure’s Edge, characters use skills to accomplish most actions. When building your character, you will use skill points to purchase ranks in skills; the higher the rank, the better your character is at the skill. Each skill also has a variety of ‘proficiencies’, which are specializations in that skill. This is explained more fully in the Skills and Proficiencies chapter.

Each character starts play with ten skill points and ten proficiencies; these skills and proficiencies represent basic knowledge from the character’s childhood and adolescence. The skill points can be allocated as the player chooses except all the skill points must be spent in separate skills, and only one proficiency can be assigned per skill (again, the required non-human second language proficiency counts again this).

These starting skills should be used in writing up a background paragraph, and the skills selected should be based upon childhood and adolescent experiences. Don’t feel pressured to write your backstory just yet. This can be done at the end. The Gamemaster makes the final call on which skills are acceptable; it is up to the player to justify their selections.

Step 2: Building Brawn

Rob gets 11 ranks (+1 for being human) and 10 proficiencies for his background level. 

Rob selects 1 rank in General Knowledge, and a regional knowledge proficiency for Brawn's hometown. His GM provided a list of possible hometowns; Rob picks "Fairmarket" from the list. He then put 1 rank in Linguistics to start off knowing a 2nd language (Galtian is free). The GM gave a list of other possible languages. Rob selects Kaldethi, the dwarf language, which will feature prominently in the game. He now has 9 skill points to choose his background skills, along with 8 proficiencies that he can put in any skill that he has a rank in on a one-to-one basis. These eight skills are what he will use as "seeds" to write his backstory. Rob fills in his character sheet with these values:

Background Skill Ranks & Proficiencies

• Athletics +1, Proficiency in Swimming
• Combat +1, Proficiency in Bows
• Conditioning +1, Long distance swimming
• Discipline +1, Proficiency in Pain Tolerance
• General Knowledge +1, Town of Fairmarket regional proficiency.
• Handle Animal +1, Proficiency in Horseback Riding
• Linguistics +1, Free Proficiency in Galtian and selected Kaldethi
• Nature Knowledge +1, Proficiency in Fish & Aquatic life
• Perception +1, Proficiency in Light Sleeper
• Survival +1, Proficiency in Fishing.
• Technical Knowledge +1

He proceeds to Step 3.

Step 3—Pick Your Class

A character's class represents a profession, such as fighter or magician. Characters start at 1st level in their chosen class. As they gain experience points (XP) for overcoming challenges, they go up in levels, granting new skills, proficiencies and abilities. Some classes have minimum Stat requirements; Make a note of these for use in the next step, Determine Stats. For now, review the class details in the Characters Classes section.

Once you have selected your class you will fill in your class abilities on your character sheet, along with the skills and proficiencies learned from the class. Each class has four class skills that start off gaining 5 ranks, along with a number of pre-set proficiencies, and some additional skills and proficiencies to put where you desire.

If your class grants a proficiency that you have already selected using a background rank, you can instead put a proficiency of your choice into one of your four class skills.

Here is a quick list to help you with ideas before diving into the longer class descriptions:

• Druids are protectors of nature, using the power of animism to bond with animals and master the art of shape changing.
• Fighter excel at learning many combat abilities and spend their lives honing their bodies and skills and specializing in specific weapons. There are six unique fighter classes, including Armsman, Berserker, Cavalier, Lancer, Paladin, and Ranger.
• Magic-users spend their lives studying the mysteries of magic. They tap into the forces of essence to change the world around them.
• Rogues are a mix of specialists who excel at stealth and subterfuge. Rogues travel light and stay a step ahead of danger. Most rogues are self-serving but may be loyal to their close friends. There are six unique rogue classes, include Acrobat, Brawler, Scout, Sneak, Swashbuckler, and Troubadour.

Math check

Once you have assigned all 10 (or 11 for human) of your background ranks and 10 background proficiencies, plus your 26 class ranks and 10 class proficiencies, you should have a total of 36 skill ranks (a maximum of 6 ranks in your 4 class skills and 2 ranks max in all the other skills) and a total of 20 proficiencies. You should not have more proficiencies than skill ranks in any skill. You should also have one free starting language that does not cost a proficiency. 

Exceptions

A few races give bonus skill ranks or proficiencies. For example, humans gain +1 skill rank per level, including the background level which means they will start play with 38 skill ranks. Dwarves gain +1 rank in Crafting and a craft proficiency. Merfolk gain +1 rank in Athletics and the swimming proficiency.

Step 3: Building Brawn

Selecting the Armsman as his class, Rob updates his character sheet with his class abilities, which are: Advanced Combat Style, Focus, Fearless, Equipment Care, Intense Training and Weapon Master.

He makes a note on scratch paper that Strength, Dexterity and Constitution must all be 12 for the next step.

He puts a check next to each of his four class skills, and adds +5 ranks to Combat, Athletics, Conditioning and General Knowledge.

That leaves six additional skill ranks to assign from his Fighter class, plus 1 more for the Human / Skilled racial trait to put anywhere he wants, other than the four class skills; He puts a rank in Crafting, Discipline, Nature Knowledge, Technical Knowledge, Perception, Spellcraft, and Survival. NOTE: You may put a skill rank in a skill that you also put a skill rank in from your background, giving you the opportunity to start with two ranks in any skill, or up to six ranks in one of your class skills (assuming that you put a background rank in a skill that then becomes a class skill).

He sees that fighters get a variety of predetermined proficiencies, and he fills those out by putting X's next to them under each skill.

In the Combat skill he selects Armor Use, Shields Use, One Handed blades, Two Handed blades and Polearms. Under General Knowledge he selects the required Law and Military Tactics. That leaves 3 proficiencies to put in any of those 10 skills. Rob decides to put them both under Influence and selects Intimidation and Carousing as he imagines Brawn having a special kind of charm.

He sees that his Advanced Combat Style has some options to select, but he will come back to combat styles at the end. He proceeds to Step 4.

You can now proceed to Step 4.

Step 4—Select Stats

It is now time to generate your character's Stats. These seven scores determine your character's most basic attributes and are used to decide a wide variety of details and statistics. Some class selections require you to have a minimum score in one or more of your abilities.

Each character starts off with a value of 10 in all seven scores, although your character’s Strength and Dexterity may have been modified when you rolled for your height.

You now have 20 points to modify your scores, raising them on a 1-1 basis. You may also lower an existing score to gain points in order to raise another score, but you may not lower your Luck stat below 10, although you CAN raise your Luck stat. Keep in mind, all of your skills are modified by your stat bonuses, and your Health Points, Stamina, Defense Bonus, plus all your other defenses and pools of power are derived directly from your stats themself. The maximum starting value for any stat is 18, but may also be limited to a lower value based upon your height. For a deeper dive into Stats and what they modify, you can read the chapter on character statistics. The key things to understand are:

• Strength affects your strength attack score and how much you can carry, along with your base damage for many weapons, and the Athletics, Combat, and Conditioning skills.
• Dexterity affects your accuracy with any ranged weapons and certain light weapons, your initiative and Defense Bonus, along with Athletics, Combat, Crafting, Medicine, Perform, Subterfuge, and Trade Skills.
• Constitution affects your Health Points, resistance to poisons and diseases, and Conditioning skills.
• Intelligence affects many skills, acts as your resistance to magic and governs the ability to cast spells. Characters need a 12 intelligence to cast 1st level spells (Low Magic or High Magic).
• Wisdom affects your initiative, perception, adept power, and many skills.
• Charisma affects your social skills, animal skills, performance skills, discipline skills, adept powers and spirit resistance. It also determines how many followers a character can recruit.
• Luck is a stat, but it is different from the other six and serves two primary functions.
  • First, Luck acts as pool characters can draw from to modify their rolls. Characters start off with a value of 10 luck, and it goes down as they spend it. Luck can be spent on a one-to-one basis to gain an Edge on ANY roll. When characters gain a level, their luck regains 1d4 points but will never increase beyond the starting value UNLESS they roll a 4 - in which case they can either restore 4 spent points or increase their Luck by 1 point and restore 1 point.
  • Second, characters may often be called upon to make "Luck checks", where they will roll a d20 and add their current luck total. There are many types of luck checks the GM can call for, from determining which character is the target of a random attack, to determine variable outcomes where chance plays a significant part such as games of chance or events that have a percentage chance of occurring. It can also be used to determine if a situation favors a character, for example if a character goes in search of a hard-to-find item in the city, the GM could assign a luck difficult based upon the rarity of the item and the character would make a luck check to see if they succeed. Luck is highly fluid, and creative GM's should leverage it whenever possible.
• All of your skills are affected by two stats. You will be averaging your stat bonuses for each skill, rounding up.

Once you have your stats, use the Table: Stat Bonuses to determine your stat bonus. Stat bonuses are a derivative of your stat and are what modify skills. Any time you are asked to add your stat bonus, this is what you will add. Record your Stats and Stat Bonuses on your character sheet.

Table: Stat Bonuses
1	-5
2	-4
3	-4
4	-3
5	-3
6	-2
7	-2
8	-1
9	-1
10	0
11	0
12	1
13	1
14	2
15	2
16	3
17	3
18	4
19	4
20	5

Step 4: Building Brawn

Rob has 20 points to spend on stats. As a 6' human, Brawn's Strength was modified to 11, but his Dexterity was lowered to a 9, with the other five stats all starting at 10's. A 9 dexterity restricts him to raising his Dexterity beyond 18, but 18 is the starting limit for all characters anyway so this isn't a problem.

Brawn is an Armsman and must have at least 12 in Strength or Dexterity and Constitution

Rob assigns 5 points to Strength, 5 points to Dexterity, 4 points to Constitution, and 2 points to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, and leaves Luck at 10 for final stats of:

Stat	Value	Bonus
Strength	16	+3
Dexterity	14	+2
Constitution	14	+2
Intelligence	12	+1
Wisdom	12	+1
Charisma	12	+1
Luck	10	+0

He records his seven stats on his sheet and uses Table: Ability Scores to find his stat bonuses, and records those too. He proceeds to Step 5.

Step 5 – Fill in the Blanks

Now it’s time to fill in the remaining blanks, including starting Health Points (hp), defense bonuses, initiative modifier, and attack values. All these numbers are determined by the decisions made in previous steps and require some math.

Don’t worry, most of the math in Adventure’s Edge happens here during character creation; it may seem like a lot, but it is simple once you get the hang of it. Let’s do this!

Many of these values are derived from ranks in skills, where you get +1 per 2 ranks in a certain skill. Use Table: Skill Rank Bonus to get your number for each of these.

Health Points

First off, we will calculate your character’s Health Points.

HP=Constitution stat *+ proficiency bonuses.

Brawn is 6' tall and a medium creature; his HP equals his 14 Constitution plus he has the "Resilience" proficiency, so his starting Health Points are 14+3=17.

Power

Power is a pool of inner reserve used for Adept Powers and certain Race and Class abilities. Brawn doesn't have any of those yet but fills in the blank anyway. Power is a character's Wisdom stat. Brawn records 12 from his Wisdom.

Magic

Magic is the pool of power used to cast spells. Brawn knows one spell because he put one rank in Spellcraft. Magic is a character's Intelligence stat, so puts in 12 from his Intelligence. 

Initiative

Initiative is used to determine who acts first in combat. It is the sum of a character’s Dexterity and Wisdom Stat bonuses.

Brawn has a 14 Dexterity (+2) and 12 Wisdom (+1), which gives an Initiative of +3.

Stride

Stride is your Dexterity stat plus your pace modifier from the height chart.

Brawn has a 14 Dexterity and a +2 Pace modifier (from the height chart), added together for an 18. 

Move

Your character’s Move is the number of spaces they can move on a battle map in a combat turn. Move is +1 per 5 Stride, rounded up.

Brawn's Stride is 16, so his Move is 16 / 5 = 3.2, rounded to 4.

Lift and Carry capacity.

Your character’s carrying capacity, or how many small items they can walk around with without a penalty, is equal to their strength stat. Up to 2x their strength stat is a moderate load, 3x strength stat is a strenuous load, and 4x their strength stat is an extreme load.

Characters can lift 20x their strength score and drag 50x their strength score in lbs.

Brawn has a 16 Strength. His light carrying load is up to 16 small items, his medium load is 17 to 32 items, his heavy load is 33 to 48 items, and his extreme load is 49 to 64 items.

A character can lift up to 20x their strength stat, and drag up to 50x their strength stat.

Brawn can lift 16x20, or 320 lbs., and drag 16*50, or 800 lbs.

Vs Poison and Vs Disease

Characters have base resistances to poison and disease equal to their Constitution stat. This value can be increased by racial traits or by certain proficiencies.

Brawn has a 14 Constitution so both of his starting resistances to poison and disease are 14.

Vs Spells

The vs Spells is a character's ability to resist spells or other magic powers, and is equal to the character's Intelligence Stat.

Brawn has a 12 in Intelligence and records it in the vs Spells box.

Spirit & vs Drain

The spirit score represents a character's inner spirit or soul and is equal to his Charisma stat; if a character suffers drain, this value can go down, and if it reaches zero a character dies. The vs Drain presents a resistance against supernatural attacks against a character’s spirit. Spirit is equal to a character's Charisma stat.

Strength Attack Bonus

The Strength attack Bonus is what a character adds to a direct physical attack or combat action. It is equal to 1/2 combat ranks + STR bonus.

Brawn has 6 combat ranks for a +3 and his STR is +3 for a total of +6.

Dexterity attack Bonus

Dexterity attack bonus is what a character adds to his ranged attacks, such as with bows, slings, or siege weapons, and certain finesse weapons such as rapiers. It is equal to 1/2 combat ranks + DEX bonus.

Brawn has a +5.

Spell attack Bonus

Spell attack is what a character adds to direct ranged spell attacks. It is equal to 1/2 spellcraft ranks+ INT.

Brawn has one rank in spellcraft and +1 from intelligence for a total of +2.

Defense Bonus (DB)

A character’s Defense Bonus equals their Dexterity stat, plus the damage resistance for armor worn.

Brawn has a Dexterity of 14 so his Defense Bonus is 14. He will buy a heavy gambeson in the next step to increase this to 18.

Dodge Bonus

A character’s Dodge is equal to 1/2 their Athletics ranks plus their Defensive Bonus.

Brawn has 6 ranks in Athletics, so his dodge is 3+18=21.

Parry Bonus

A character’s parry bonus is equal to 1/2 Combat ranks plus their Defense Bonus.

Brawn has 6 ranks, so his parry bonus is 3+18=21.

Shield

A character will only have a shield bonus if they are using a shield. This will be shown on the equipment table. A shield provides a passive bonus to the Defense Bonus or Parry Bonus to forward facing opponents as long as the character has the shield use proficiency; see Combat.

Step 5.2 - Select Spells.

The chapter on Magic fully explains the difference between Low Magic and High Magic. The short version is that ALL character classes can learn any number of "low magic" spells. For each rank in Spellcraft that a non-magician character spends, they automatically learn one low magic spell. You will find all of the low magic spells in the spells database. Magician characters learn spell lists instead of single spells. Again, for each rank in Spellcraft a Magician selects a list of spells from the spells database. At first level, Magicians are only able to cast the level one spell on each list, but as they gain more ranks in spellcraft, they will eventually unlock their 2nd through 5th level spells. This is fully explained in the Magic chapter.

Brawn learns one Low Magic spell and chooses the spell "Ignite" so he can magically start fires.

Step 5.3 - Select Combat Styles.

All characters with ranks in Combat automatically learn unique combat style actions on a one-to-one basis, and character classes with the Advanced Combat Style class ability gain an additional five starting combat style action. If you have selected at least one rank in Combat, you will need to review the Combat Styles section and make your selections. If you character only has one or two ranks in combat, the easiest choices are to choose Punching or Kicking. At the bottom of the list of actions are some suggested choices if you find this section overwhelming or need inspiration for fleshing out your character's combat style.

Brawn gets 11 combat style actions: 6 for his ranks in the Combat skill and 5 more from the Advanced Combat Style class feature. He selects: Beat, Block, Bull Rush, Punching, Kicking, Half-Sword, Stop Hit, Trip, Weapon Specialization (Longsword), Shield Bash, and Uppercut.

Step 5.4 - Select Adept Powers.

Adept powers are unique abilities that allow characters to perform superhuman feats. They are acquired by purchasing an Adept Power proficiency in the Discipline skill section. Adept powers are fueled by the character's "Power", a pool of energy that represent their personal power, Chi, or Ki. Characters have a Power rating equal to their Wisdom stat. If you have purchased an Adept Power proficiency, you will need to review the Adept Powers section and make the appropriate number of selections.

Brawn has not yet learned any Adept Powers.

Step 6—Buy Equipment

Each new character begins the game with one heirloom item worth 100 silver or less; this isn’t something your character will immediately pawn to buy something else. It might be a parent’s sword, or an instrument that they saved up for years to purchase, or a piece of jewelry with an inscription from a loved one. It could also be something practical that they were gifted when they completed their apprenticeship, such as a unique tool, a suit of armor or a shield – but even these should be special to your character.

In addition to the heirloom item, your character then gets 200+10d10 silver pieces that they can spend on a wide range of equipment and gear, from armor to backpacks. This gear helps your character survive while adventuring.

Consult the equipment tables in Chapter 8, recording your purchases on your equipment sheet.

Step 6: Building Brawn, Buy Equipment

It's time to buy gear. Rob sees that every character starts off with an heirloom item; something special to the character that is worth 100 silver pieces or less.

Rob selected a fine longsword as Brawn's heirloom item, then rolls 300+5d20, for a total of 259 silver to purchase his starting gear.

Consulting the equipment charts, Rob purchases:

That adds up to 339 silvers, which leaves him with only 19 silver and 50 pennies to start his adventuring career. On to Step 7!

Step 7—Lastly, write a short backstory.

Incorporating the skills and proficiencies that you selected in Step 3, along with your Race and Class, write one or two paragraphs about who your character is and where they are from.

It is important to note that starting off at 1st level means characters have completed their primary training, and while they are no longer apprentices, they have not accomplished much. They have not been on grand adventures or traveled the world. Most characters have likely not gone far from where they were born. If you were following along the examples, we can complete Brawn’s story now.

Your character is ready for Adventure!

Step 7: Building Brawn - His backstory

Brawn grew up in the town of Fairmarket in the Duchy of Landon. His father was a fisherman, and his mother worked at the bakery. Brawn helped his father from a young age, spending much of his youth on the banks of the Laughing Lady, swimming and catching fish that they would deliver to the market. His father was a stern disciplinarian and his mother strong and kind. They weren't rich, but Brawn had what he needed.

When he came of age, Brawn knew that he wanted more out of life then being a fisherman. To his father's dismay, he joined the town guard and began training to be a guardsman and defender of the town. He still enjoyed being near the water and spent time swimming as a conditioning routine. He also spent more time at the local tavern carousing with his new companions.

After several years of training, he graduated as a guardsman. Upon graduation, his father presented him a finely crafted longsword that had belonged to his grandfather; the sword has a stylized symbol of the sun etched on the blade. He is officially ready for adventure!