View source for Book:Character Creation

Players need to create characters before they can join the game.  One could create a one-armed, colorblind, psychic carpenter who charges into battle wielding his oversized pipe wrench. One could create a charismatic brigand, robbing from the rich, giving to the poor, and wearing fantastic tights.

Characters can be classic or original, simple or complex; the choice is the player's.

==The Sheet==
The Character Sheet is the central item to the Immortal Legacy game.  It is where you keep track of your character's condition, abilities, hurts and health, weaknesses, strengths, possessions, contacts, and anything relevant to staying inside that character and playing the game.  As such, you should get to know it pretty well, as you'll need to reference it fairly often.  At the end of this book is a blank character sheet which you may photocopy or scan and make copies of.

Now let's take you through the steps of creating a new character.

{{sidebar|caption=Quick Start|text=To create a character for Immortal Legacy, just follow these steps.
# Choose a ''Concept''
# Choose an ''Alignment''
# Choose a ''Motivation''
# Choose a ''Personality''
# Choose a ''Race''
# Assign 60 points into your ''Attributes''
# Assign 25 ranks into your ''Skills'' (don't forget ranks in Occupation, Weapon, and Elemental skills)
# Take 15 points to purchase ''Trumps'' and ''Special Powers''
# Choose any ''Faults'', and these points can be spent however you'd like
# Purchase ''Equipment''
}}

== Step One: The Big Idea ==
Alright, this is where it all begins! Step One is all about defining your character: description and back-story, behavior, goals, and beliefs. Before you worry about any game rules or hard numbers, you should have a good idea about the narrative side of your character.

=== Concept ===
{{:Concept}}

=== Alignment ===
{{:Alignment}}

=== Motivation ===
{{:Motivation}}

=== Personality ===
Personality is great for describing how to role play your character. Personality is what your character ''is like''. It's a listing of traits that describe your character's behavior and what people might say about her.  Personality helps a player get a feel for how to role play the character's actions and reactions, speak as the character, and represent the feel of the character.  Choosing a Personality for your character is very simple — just choose at least one of the Personality Traits listed below.  The less Traits you choose, the more one dimensional and predictable your character will be.  The more you choose, the more dynamic and three dimensional.  Choose as many as you like, but keep in mind that it will be more difficult to accurately role play your character if you choose conflicting traits or too many.

* [[Personality Examples]]

===Example===
Here are two examples of the above information for some familiar characters.

Jack, the titular character from ''Jack and the Beanstalk''. Jack was told to go to the market with a cow and sell it. Instead he came home with magic beans which grew and allowed Jack to find the castle of a giant in the clouds, from whom he stole several things. Ultimately, Jack dispatched said giant. If your character was Jack, you might pick "poor farm boy" as your Concept. For Personality, you might put "Curious, Gullible, Opportunistic". Curious for his desire to investigate the giant's castle, gullible for being sold magic beans, and opportunistic for taking what he thought was a good haul from the giant. His Motivation might be "To attain wealth." Finally, his Alignment might be "Egoist, Supernatural", for he was a bit selfish taking from someone else and he had enough belief in magic beans to bring them home to his mother instead of cash for the cow.

King Arthur, the legendary British leader. Depending on which book you read, or movie you watch, Arthur's character differs a bit. In any case, it is undisputed he was a just, powerful ruler with knights at his command, and a drive to protect his domain. If King Arthur was your character, you might choose "destined ruler" as your Concept. His Personality could be "Charismatic, Humble, Responsible", all traits you could see in many depictions of Arthur. For Motivation, you might put "Defend Britain", for surely that was his ultimate goal. Lastly, his Alignment could be "Justice, Faith, Duty", for he was a King that ruled with the law, honored the call of his maker to find the Holy Grail, and served with a sense of duty.

==Step Two: It's Alive!==
After choosing a Concept and completing step one, which is all about who your character is, you can now move on to step two, which deals with what your character can do in the game. 

===Race===
One of the most important choices a player can make about his or her character is the character's Race. With it comes possible boons and hindrances as well as a starting place for behavior, appearance, and physical traits. For more information on races, flip to the [[Book:Races|Races]] chapter located later in this book, which details many playable races for Immortal Legacy.

===Attributes===
These are your character's core statistics.  Every character and creature in Immortal Legacy has these 12 Attributes.  They describe your character's natural potential and innate talent. Attributes have ranges from 1–10, with 1 being the lowest possible score and 10 being the highest.  Non-human races have maximums that are higher or lower than 10, so it's important to first choose a Race.

At character creation, you receive 60 points to divide up between the 12 Attributes as you see fit, however your GM might give you more or fewer.

Any Attribute (not Skill) with a score of zero means the character is out of commission, one way or another.  So, you need a rating of at least "1" in each Attribute.  Even then, that's very low.  A character with a "1" in [[Muscle]] would be near dead and a character with a "1" in [[Intellect]] would be near brain-dead.  So it might be a good idea to have at least two in everything to start off with.

Below, Attributes are categorized into the categories of Physical, Mental, Social, and Spiritual.

====Physical====
=====Muscle=====
{{:Muscle}}
=====Agility=====
{{:Agility}}
=====Endurance=====
{{:Endurance}}

====Mental====
=====Intellect=====
{{:Intellect}}
=====Insight=====
{{:Insight}}
=====Cunning=====
{{:Cunning}}

====Social====
=====Charm=====
{{:Charm}}
=====Presence=====
{{:Presence}}
=====Persuasion=====
{{:Persuasion}}

====Spiritual====
=====Courage=====
{{:Courage}}
=====Psyche=====
{{:Psyche}}
=====Self-Control=====
{{:Self-Control}}

===Speed===
Speed is a measurement of how many feet per second your character can move about. The Speed score is generally determined by a creature's Size. All playable races detailed in this book have a Speed of 10, which is almost 7 miles per hour. You can try to move faster than this by making a Dash check (see ''Chapter 6: Skills'')

===Size===
{{:Size}}

==Step Three: I Know Kung Fu!==
What good is a role-playing character without nifty powers and skills? Fortunately in the Immortal Legacy game, anything you want your character to do or have (from picking a lock to hurling fireballs to poison immunity) is available for purchase ''à la carte''These abilities come in the form of skills, trumps, and special powers. A character can gain access to more abilities in return for choosing faults, which help define the character’s limitations.

===Skills===
[[Skills|Skill]] ranks represent a character's expertise and experience with a given activity.  The more ranks in a skill, the better the character gets.  Regular skills are used for mundane tasks, such as climbing or hiding, while ''Weapon Skills'' enable a character to better pose an offensive threat.  

At character creation, you receive 25 skill ranks to spread out over your skills.  Don't forget about Occupations, Weapon Skills, and Elemental Skills!  There are too many of these to put them all on the sheet, so be sure you aren't skipping them.  They are important!  [[Book:Skills|Skills]] are detailed in Chapter 5.

===Trumps, Faults, and Special Powers===
At character creation, you receive 15 Expoints to purchase Trumps and Special Powers. 

====Trumps====
[[Trumps]] can be purchased to customize your character with benefits and bonuses. Some trumps can be purchased multiple times, granting further benefits each time. Trumps are detailed in ''Chapter 7''.
====Faults====
[[Faults]] can be chosen to further give your character a personality, and with that come hindrances.  Because they cause your character some difficulty, faults give you more Expoints to use on other things.  You can use the points from faults to buy attributes (which cost 6 points), [[skills]] (which cost 2 points), trumps, or special powers. Faults are detailed in ''Chapter 8''.
====Special Powers====
[[Special Powers]] are supernatural abilities your character can utilize.  Unlike trumps and faults, you purchase special powers in ranks up to a maximum of 5.  Each rank brings more powerful abilities. Special powers are detailed in ''Chapter 9''.

===Magic Spells===
[[Spellcasting]] is one of the available special powers. By casting spells, characters can throw fireballs, breathe underwater, and fly through the skies.  Once characters have access to the realm of [[Magic]], they can learn its wonders by locating or researching magic spells.  Spells are powered by one or more [[Spell Schools|Elements]], and can behave a little differently depending on the Element used.  A character has no limit to the number of spells they know, but specializing usually makes for a more powerful character at the expense of diversity. The rules of Magic are detailed in Chapter 13, and spells are detailed in Chapter 14.

===Health Points===
{{:Health Points}}

===Action Points===
'''Action Points''' (or '''AP''') represent the number of activities you can perform during your turn in combat.  Everything costs AP, from swinging a sword, to launching a spell, to grabbing a monkey out of your pocket.  Most everyone starts off with 6 AP. See Chapter 9: [[Book:Combat|Combat]] for more details on AP and its usage.

===Magic Defense===
'''Magic Defense''' (or '''MDEF''') is a character's supernatural fortitude in opposition to magic power. Think of it as invisible armor that keeps out spells. Some races start with MDEF points. See the [[Magic Defense]] entry in the [[Book:Trumps|Trumps]] chapter for more details.

===Magic Points===
Magic spells and abilities are fueled directly by '''Magic Points''' (or '''MP'''), which represent the raw pool of magic power available to a character. A character might refer to this as ''mana''.

MP is used to power special abilities, much the same way as gasoline is used to power cars.  Every character has an MP score, whether or not they have the ability to cast spells, or any other special abilities.  

Characters begin the game with 10 MP. Those capable of casting spells must choose which Attribute is tied to their magical talents, and they can add the score of that Attribute to their total MP.  For example, if Lioraine chooses [[Intellect]] as her [[Casting Attribute]], and she has 8 points in it, she begins the game with 18 MP. See Chapter 13: [[Book:Magic|Magic]] for more information about MP and its usage.

===Spirit Points===
'''Spirit Points''' (or '''SP'''), are the inner reserve of supernatural power that is inherent in every being.  A character might refer to this as ''ki''. 

SP are harnessed through meditation and self awareness. They are used to enable great feats of strength and bravado, and to defy what is thought normally possible.

Characters begin the game with 10 SP. Those capable of wielding spirit power (by taking the ''[[Harness Spirit]]'' Trump) can add their [[Self-Control]] score to their total SP. For instance, if Bram has the ''Harness Spirit'' Trump, and he has 6 points in it, he begins the game with 16 SP.

===Fate Points===
{{:Fate}}

==Step Four: Done, Done, and Done==
Now there are just a few finishing touches to be made regarding your new character.

===Description===
The spaces marked '''Sexuality, Age, Weight, Height, Hair, Eyes,''' and '''Skin,''' are there for you to fill in a little bit about what your character looks like.  Some players also enjoy coming up with detailed descriptions of clothes, scars, tattoos, and so on.  Your character can be as simple as you like, but the more time you spend on rounding them out, the more realized they will be.

===Name===
Some players start with a name, other players end with one.  However you do it, you will need to come up with a name for your new character.  And do try and make it appropriate to the setting and maturity level of your gaming group, okay?  ''Grumblebutt the Gaseous'' might be a little silly, while ''Joe the Blacksmith'' doesn't have much flair.

===Inventory and Wealth===
Brains, brawn, and bravado might not cut the monstrous mustard by themselves, hero.  Sometimes the difference between an early grave and eternal glory is what kind of gadgets and gear your characters have on them.  This is where you write down all the things you buy, find, or maybe even steal.  See Chapter 11: [[Book:Equipment|Equipment]] for all the goodies you can acquire.

===Filling in the Gaps===
If there are things on your character sheet that are not yet filled in (possibly in the Attack and Defense sections), don't despair.  The chapters which follow will give you more detailed information regarding the game rules and you will be able to fill those empty boxes in.

==Advancement==
{{:Advancement}}

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__